


The Beginnings

by PhantomWolfScout



Series: A Doctor's Link [1]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Adventure, Eventual Romance, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:00:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 43,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26324542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhantomWolfScout/pseuds/PhantomWolfScout
Summary: What happens when there is another Time Lord, or rather a Time Lady, survives the Time War? How did she survive such a devastating war and escape the fate all others fell into? What is her connection to the Doctor? Welcome to The Beginnings!
Relationships: The Doctor/OC
Series: A Doctor's Link [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1965508
Kudos: 8





	1. Prologue

AN: Hello fellow Whovians! Welcome to one of my first attempts at writing a Doctor Who romance with a Time Lady OC. Now I want to get this out of the way now while you're just getting into this… there are going to be ideas that may look very similar to others (how can there be not? There's tons of stories like this).

What got me to writing about this particular one is actually inspired by the works of LizzeXX. I love reading her stories and how her various Time Ladies interact with the Doctor. I am going to be borrowing the base idea of Linking (From her Lunar Cycle series) but I will be trying to tweak some aspects to fit my story. Either way, check her and her stories out as soon as you get the opportunity! I strongly encourage it.

Anyways, a little backstory on the OC. The Time Lady in question here is going to be The Librarian. She is going to start out human, or rather a Time Lady in human form. She will be wearing a fob watch around her neck (much like a necklace) that holds her time lord essence. It'll often be hidden under her shirt so initially the Doctor isn't going to notice it until later down the line. Effectively, she will be a lot like John Smith from Human Nature and Family of Blood, while she she has the watch. Now I won't reveal her true name or her title as I want the first time you see the name when the Doctor utters it. When that happens? I won't tell ;P

I do not own Doctor Who, nor will I ever have the rights to the show.

* * *

_ Prologue: _

Elizabeth "Libby" Woods puffed some air up to move her long chocolate bangs out of her molten gold eyes as she looked around the area around herself. The woman has taken up a job in a library in London in recent years. As much as she loves the idea of a library, there's just days where it's incredibly slow and incredibly boring.

Days like Sundays.

And today ended up being a Sunday. For whatever reason, most people doesn't come into the library on Sundays so work ends up being really slow and dull. Libby groaned, laying her head down on the desk. She didn't immediately notice the ringing of a bell above the door at the entrance, nor a curly blonde haired woman who was strutting inside.

"Excuse me miss?" The woman with a British accent called out upon stopping just before the desk.

Libby blinked, snapping her head up and put on her best smile to act as if she wasn't just laying on the desk. "Oh! Hello, how may I help you today?"

"Ah, yes. I was wondering if you can help me find something? I'm looking for a book about various stars and galaxies. I'm… new here to this library and could use an expert to guide me to where I need to go."

The brunette woman nodded, getting up from her chair and walking around the desk. "Why of course! I'm happy to help. If you'll follow me, I'll take you there." She said with a friendly smile, guiding the strange woman to one of the sections that focused on outer space.

"Thank you sweetie, I appreciate your help." The blonde said warmly, dipping her head.

After a moment or two, Libby turned back around to return to her desk. It's not like she's needed at this time and it simply wouldn't do to hover over the patrons.

The next several hours seemingly dragged on but eventually it was time to end her shift as someone else came in to take over the front desk. Before leaving, a piece of paper and a strangely designed ring caught her eye.

With a frown, the female gingerly picked up the paper and opened it up to read the contents.

**_Hello Past Libby!_ **

The frown deepens. It's her handwriting but… how?

**_I know this might sound strange and even suspicious, but trust me. You're about to start an adventure of a lifetime. It's going to be mad and wonderful and really, beyond any words to truly describe the experience. Right now, I know you must be confused as you're reading this letter. I've been there. No matter, what does matter is when you come to next, trust the man, The Doctor, you see. He's grumpy but really does mean well. Don't let him bully you into leaving all the choices to him. You'll understand why in due time. Anyways, have fun!_ **

**_~Future Libby_ **

She shook her head, trying to wrap her head around what she just read. "This has to be some sort of prank… right?" She asked herself, turning her gaze onto the ring. Frankly it looked odd, nothing quite like she has ever seen before.

The band seemed to be a standard white gold metal band with intricate circular designs. But the gem on the other hand, doesn't look like any stone she would be familiar with. Well that's a lie. It looked like a small diamond but somehow, the woman felt like it's so much more than that.

Libby carefully picked up the ring and admired the look of the piece of jewelry. Suddenly, she felt compelled to try it on, at least once. She slid it onto her right ring finger. The moment the ring snugly slipped into place, the brunette momentarily blacked out as the scenery changed from the library to some sort of console room.

* * *

Doctor and Rose had recently returned from an adventure in relation to the girl's father. They were simply floating around space for the time being, trying to cool down from the intense emotions that came from the situation that surrounded dealing with the Reapers. Really, a valuable lesson was learned, don't touch a past self, especially when a man that is supposed to be dead, still lives.

As usual, Doctor was in the console room of the TARDIS, fiddling with the delicate machinery… with a hammer. "Ow!" The leather clad man shouted, jerking back after being shocked by the console. "What was that for?"

The TARDIS hummed indignantly, clearly showing her displeasure in being hit with a hammer. After that, some lights flickered before focusing on one spot. The spot shining over what looks like a woman. A woman passed out on the floor near the console on the other side, where he hadn't initially noticed her presence.

Naturally, this had the Time Lord rather confused, maybe even a bit alarmed! "How in the bloody hell…?" He muttered, making his way to the stranger and kneeled at her side. He pressed two fingers on her neck and checked his watch, seeing if she has a pulse and if she's in any danger.

Her pulse seems normal. "That's good. Other than being unconscious, she's okay." He said to himself before looking up. "Mind prepping the medbay, Old Girl? I would imagine this… mystery girl would prefer to wake on a bed rather than on the cold hard floor."

The TARDIS hums a confirmation, flickering some lights.

The Time Lord cracked a small smile before shifting back to his usual neutral expression as he carefully picked up the woman bridal style and carried her to the medbay and set her onto the examination table. Now that she's there, it gave the man a chance to use is sonic screwdriver to scan her.

He looked at the device in his hand and frowned. "She's human, but there seems to be a trace of artron energy. That's strange. I'll have to ask her questions when she wakes. Let me know when the human wakes, would you Old Girl?"

Once again, he receives a confirmation, giving him the opportunity to slip out and keep busy.

* * *

Sometime later, Libby finally began to stir awake with a soft groan leaving her lips. Molten gold eyes slowly flutter open and a hand lifted to her head as she begin to sit up. "Ugh… what happened?"

Massaging her dully throbbing head, the young woman took the time to take in her surroundings while trying to remember. She didn't notice how there was a faint song echoing in the back of her head. Or how the lights flicker for a brief moment.

"Ah! So you finally woke up." A male's voice said from the entrance of the medbay, startling Libby out of her thoughts. Her gaze snapped towards the man, taking in his appearance. Hm… large ears, blue eyes and leather jacket over a jumper.

"Who are you? Where am I? What's going on?"

"Jumping into the questions, eh?" The man asked, mirth shining in his eyes. He strode over to Libby and waved a buzzing tube thing that flashed blue over her face. "My name is the Doctor, you're on my ship the TARDIS, and that's what I'm trying to figure out."

Libby scowled, smacking his hand away. "Stop buzzing that in my face!" She huffed while crossing her arms over her chest like a child. "Who in their right mind just go by the Doctor and nothing else? Doctor Who?"

The Time lord smirked when that lovely question was asked but stayed quiet while she continued on her ramblings before choosing to shush her by covering her mouth.

"Now that you're done," he paused, giving her a once over, "I have some questions for you. Since you were so _rude_ to demand my name, why don't you start with giving me yours, hm? And while you're at it, why don't you explain how you ended on my ship while it's floating through space?"

Her eyes flashed in an almost otherworldly way as Libby pulled off his hand. Can't speak with the hand covering and muffling her voice. "My name is Elizabeth Woods but pretty much everyone calls me Libby. I don't know how the hell I ended up here. All I remember was reading a weird note and then trying on this even stranger ring," she held up her hand where the ring still sits, "and I ended up passing out. How do I know you haven't kidnapped me? You are a strange man with ears as big as Dumbo, after all."

Doctor took on an offended look, placing a hand on his chest. "Excuse me! I may be a lot of things but I don't kidnap! _You_ showed up on my ship! I had nothing to do with it!"

It was then he actually took the moment to get a closer look at the ring and his eyes flicked back up to her before going back to it. "How...?"

Too bad that won't get answered until much later as the ship lurched, sending Libby to the floor and the alien himself stumbling. With a frown, he rushed back to the console room and leaving a confused woman behind.

Libby grunts, rubbing her head and shakily stood up (not that it's easy with the way the room moved around her). "Wait! Don't leave me in here alone!" She shouted, hurrying after him.

* * *

AN: Well? What do you think? Have you figured out who the blonde woman was?

Now I feel I should explained a bit what just happened. The ring Libby got? It's a time ring she ended up receiving from her future self that was automatically set to send her back to a certain point in the Doctor's timeline. It's meant to be abrupt and sudden, going as far as overloading her senses to the point of losing consciousness for a time.

Next time, we'll jump right into Empty Child and we'll see Rose!


	2. Chapter 1 The Empty Child

AN: Welcome back to The Beginnings! Now we can get the ball rolling and start with The Empty Child. I’m aware I could’ve started at an earlier episode but so many others have started at Rose or some other episode before this one and I didn’t want to repeat that. Besides, I thought that this one could be an interesting starting point for Libby to begin her journey on.

This episode has always been one of my favorite Nine episodes, well this and The Doctor Dances. Perhaps it’s because it’s one of the more memorable parts of Nine’s reign.

Anyways, I still don’t have the rights to Doctor Who. I’m just playing in the sandbox with an OC.

* * *

**Chapter 1 The Empty Child:**

The TARDIS hurtles through space. Inside, Doctor looked over the console to see it flashing mauve. He ignored Libby as she stumbled in, running around to keep the ship going.

“What is happening?!” Libby shouted as grabbed onto some nearby railing to stay on her feet.

This caught Rose’s attention as the blonde teen looked over to spot the newcomer. “Oh hello! I’d ask where you come from but I suspect that now isn’t the time. We’ll talk after the idiot over there lands.” She greeted, giving Doctor her signature grin as he protested.

Shaking her head, she stumbled around to stay on her feet. “ What’s the emergency?”

“It’s mauve.”

The pair rush around the console with relative ease, even as the TARDIS shudders and shake. Poor Libby wasn’t yet steady, not after waking up not too long ago so she focused on hanging onto something.

“Mauve?”

“The Universally recognized color for danger.” He responded as if that explained everything.

Rose frowned a bit. “What happened to red?”

“That’s just humans. By everyone else’s standard, red’s camp.” He said, looking on the monitor. “Oh the misunderstandings. All those red alerts, all that dancing.” Doctor motions to the object they ended up following through the Time Vortex on the monitor. “It’s got a very basic flight computer - I’ve hacked in, slaved the TARDIS. Where it goes, we go.”

Rose joins him at his side to look upon the screen. “And that’s safe, is it?”

“Totally.” Doctor grins.

Part of the consoles sparks and explodes, forcing them to step back.

“Okay, reasonably. Should have said reasonably there.”

“You think?!” Libby said loudly from where she was clinging. Poor woman still has no clue what’s going on and probably won’t anytime soon.

“Oh, no, no, no, no, no! It’s jumping time tracks - getting away from us.”

“What exactly is this thing, Doctor?” The blonde asked, eyes widening as she took on a look of slight panic while the ship continues to hurtle through the Vortex after the object as much as possible.

“No idea.”

“And why are we chasing it?”

“It’s mauve and dangerous. And about thirty seconds from the center of London.”

Eventually the TARDIS materializes behind some bleak looking houses in London. The first to exit was the Doctor. Rose would’ve been first, but she wanted to check on the newcomer first now that things are on the calmer side.

She offers her hand to Libby and help the woman up to her feet, acting as a base of support while guiding her outside. “Hello there. My name is Rose Tyler and you are…?”

The brunette gratefully smiled at the younger girl, taking advantage of the extra support as she gathers her bearings. “Elizabeth Woods. You can call me Libby though. In fact, I prefer if you do so.”

“Nice to meet you Libby!” Rose smiles in a friendly way. “May I ask where you come from? I didn’t think Big Ears over there made another stop that would’ve involved another adventure.”

“I was just in one of the Libraries in London. I work as a librarian. But I don’t even know where I am or how I ended up with you two.”

Rose shook her head and opened her mouth to respond when Doctor interrupted.

“Do you know how long we can knock around space without having to bump into Earth?” He asked, looking over his shoulder to look at the ladies as they finally exit the ship.

“Five days? Or is it that just when we’re out of milk?” Rose joked, smirking at the Time Lord.

“Of all the species in all the universe and it has to come out of a cow.”

Somewhere overhead, something seems to be watching them as Doctor walked away and Rose followed while still holding onto Libby. Now isn’t the time to be leaving Libby alone when she hasn’t done this sort of thing yet.

“Must have come down somewhere quite close. Within a mile anyway. And it can’t have been more than a few weeks ago. Maybe a month at most.”

“Wait, hold on! A month?! I thought we were right behind that thing!” Rose protested.

“It was jumping time tracks all over the place, we’re bound to be a little bit out. Do YOU wanna drive?”

“Yeah… how much is ‘a little’?”

“A bit.”

“Is that EXACTLY a bit? Or are you just saying that?” Rose asked, shaking her head.

“Ish.”

“What’s the plan then? Are you gonna do a scan for alien tech or something?”

Doctor huffed. “Rose, it hit the middle of London with a very loud bang. I’m gonna ask.”

Doctor held up the psychic paper and showed it to Rose and in turn, Libby, so they could read what he wanted them to see. The blonde took the moment to look over the paper, reading out loud what she saw.

“Doctor John Smith, Ministry of Astroids.”

“Psychic Paper, tells you-“

Rose cut him off. “Whatever you want it to tell me, I remember.”

Libby frowned when she looked over what looked like a blank piece of paper. She had largely stayed quiet thus far, feeling like she couldn’t interrupt. After all, she’s just a stranger that somehow got pulled along for the ride. But.. something compelled her to speak now.

“Sorry for interrupting but what are you talking about? That paper looks empty to me.” Libby chimed in after having to clear her throat rather loudly to get the other two’s attention.

The Doctor stopped walking, which in turned stopped Rose and Libby. It was clear to see the surprise on his face as he faced the ladies, or rather Libby herself. One. Two. Three moments passed before he shook his head to snap himself out of the trance.

“You don’t see anything? Not even a single word?”

Libby shook her head. “No, nothing. Are you trying to play a prank on me?” She asked as her golden eyes took on a bit of a wary look.

A slow smile gradually appeared on the leather clad alien, shaking his head.

“Ah, no. It’s no prank Miss Woods.” He chimed with an amused chuckle rumbling past his lips. “If the physic paper looks blank to you, it simply means you quite the genius. Such a tool wouldn’t fool you compared to the average human.”

Libby looked confused while Rose was shocked at that piece of information.

“You mean there’s more than what we see?”

“Yes Rose, that’s exactly the case with our new friend here.”

The Doctor then turned to the door they stopped near at and pulled out his sonic to unlock the door and gain access to the inside of the building.

“Gimme some Spock! For once, would it kill ya?”

Pausing for a moment to give Rose a critical look, the Doctor hummed. “Are you sure about that t-shirt?”

Rose glanced at her choice of shirts, a Union Jack under a jacket, before shrugging. “ Too early to say. I’m taking it out for a spin.”

“Well I like the shirt Rose. Looks good on you.” Libby interjected quietly, wearing a small smile and earning a larger one in return.

“Door - music - people. What d’you think?”

“I think you should scan for alien tech.” Rose responded with a slight roll of her eyes.

While the Doctor was busy getting the door open, the blonde between the two women looked around when she heard a child’s voice uttering a single word, ‘mummy’. She quickly followed the child in the direction she heard the voice the second time, disappearing from sight before either the Time Lord or the newcomer even realized she was gone.

The door opens when the lock undoes itself and creak open. “Come on if you’re coming. Won’t take a minute.” He said, going inside.

Libby turns to where she had last seen Rose and noticed she was already gone. She couldn’t have gone already had she? Preferring not to be left alone in a strange place she didn’t recognize, the brunette hurried inside to stand beside the Time Lord.

The drinking den, as it turned out to be, was crowded with people smoking and chatting with one another as a singer sings in the background. Libby took note of how the people dressed and interacted, furrowing her brows as she slowly realized that this wasn’t the same time she had come from.

“Doctor…” She murmured, tugging at his sleeve. “When are we?”

For a brief moment, he looked surprised at her choice of words for the question but shrugged it off for now. “We’re in 1941 during the London Blitz. The object we followed crashed somewhere around here.”

“Okay…” She said uneasily. “And how do you expect to find that object if you weren’t even bothering to scan for it?

Flashing the brunette a lopsided grin, he pointed towards the stage where the singer was wrapping up her song. “How else? Ask the people, of course!”

The moment the microphone was left behind, Doctor stepped onto the stage with a cheery demeanor and cleared his throat. “Excuse me! Excuse me! Could I have everybody’s attention for just a mo? Be very quick, eh… hello!” He waves his hand. “Eh… might seem like a stupid question, but has anything fallen from the sky recently?”

The room was in near complete silence, if it weren’t for the fact that the man himself told Libby that they were in the era of the London Blitz, leading her to groan quietly. It didn’t take long before the audience to laugh, earning a confused look from Doctor. “Sorry, have I said something funny?”

More laughter from the people in the room.

“It’s just, there’s this thing I need to find, would’ve fallen from the sky a couple of days ago.”

Suddenly a siren sounds, causing the people to evacuate the room.

“With a very loud…” As the crowds of people leave, both time travelers noticed a poster tacked on the wall about the legend **_HITLER WILL SEND NO WARNING._** ****

“Bang…”

Emerging from the drinking den, the pair rounds a corner to where the TARDIS is parked. The Doctor, now realizing that his blonde Companion is missing, turned to look at Libby. “You see where Rose disappeared off to?” A shake of the head from the brunette, he sighs heavily. “You know, one of these days I’m going to meet someone who gets the whole ‘don’t wander off’ thing.”

“Hey! I don’t know what you mean by that but I didn’t wander off? I’m here aren’t I?”

Before he could retort in amusement, the TARDIS phone began to ring. Confused, he looked back at his ship and slowly walked up to the doors and opened the compartment where the phone was hidden. He stared at it.

“How can you be ringing? What’s that about? Ringing?” He pulled out his sonic. “What am I supposed to do with a ringing phone?”

“Don’t answer it. It’s not for you.” A young woman, Nancy, interjected, which earned a questioning look from the man and a startled squeak from the woman as both turned to face the owner of the new voice.

“And how do you know that?”

“‘Cos I do. And I’m tellin’ ya - don’t answer it.”

“Well, if you know so much, tell me this - how can it be ringing?” Doctor motioned to the ringing phone. “It’s not even a real phone. It’s not even **CONNECTED,** it’s not-“

“Um… Doctor? She’s gone.” Libby said after realizing Nancy left during his tangent. Shaking her head, she looked back to the Time Lord to see him picking up the phone and holding it to his ear.

“Hello?” There was only silence aside from the crackling noise. “This is the Doctor speaking. How may I help you?”

_“Mummy?”_

Whatever grin that he had faded away.

_“Mummy?”_

“Who is this? Who is speaking?”

_“Are you my mummy?”_

Doctor forced out his words. “Who is this?”

_“Mummy?”_

He was silent for a moment. “How did you ring here? This isn’t a real phone, it’s not even wired up to anything, it’s-“

The child in the phone cut him off. _“Mummy?”_ Then the line goes dead. Doctor slowly replaces the phone back onto its cradle and poked his head into the TARDIS calling for Rose.

“I don’t think she’s in ther-“ Libby jumped in surprise as there was a loud crashing sound from behind. The two of the rush off to follow the source of the sound, leaving the alleyway and onto a street.

* * *

The pair watched as a couple clamored out of their home, shouting at one another. A heavyset woman shouted at a similarly heavyset man as she urged him to go into a shelter while he complained having to do this for multiple nights in a row. Once the two of them made it inside the the door slammed closed, Nancy slipped out from her hiding spot behind the shelter and creeped inside through the back door of the house, not even noticing that she was being watched.

Seeing the opportunity, both Libby and the Doctor entered through the same door and made their way towards the dining room unnoticed by the young lady and the children.

“Many children out there?”

“Eh… yes, miss.” One of the boys said as the run to the table and attempted to reach for some of the food.

“Ah - still carving. Sit and wait.” Nancy said, eyeing them until they followed directions. “We’ve got the whole air raid.”

“Look at that. Bet it’s off the black market.’ The boy from earlier said.

“That’s enough.”

More children hurried down the road and into the house where the dinner is being served. No one noticed the masked child watching as one boy kneels down to tie his shoes before hurrying inside. Didn’t even noticed the masked child advancing towards the door.

Now there’s several children around the table, quietly having conversations while waiting for their meal.

“It’s GOT to be black market. He couldn’t get all this on coupons.” A boy, Ernie, said as he eyed all the food on the table, including the large turkey.

“Ernie,” Nancy began severely, “how many times? We are guests in this house. We will not make comments of that kind.”

The other children laugh at Ernie.

“Oh, Nancy!”

Nancy looks among the children before stopping on a new face. “Haven’t seen you at one of these before.”

“He told me about it.” He said, nodding to another boy.

“Sleeping rough?”  
  
“Yes miss.”

“Alright then.” She passed a plate filled with slices of meat. “One slice each, and I want to see everyone chewing properly.”

Three boys gave their respective thanks as they each got their slice, one handing the plate to someone without paying attention.

“Thanks, miss!” Doctor said cheerfully as he put a slice on a plate, grinning a bit at the woman looking over his shoulder.

This of course, got the children around the table to gasp and jump back in surprise.

“It’s alright! Everybody stay where you are!” Nancy responded.

“Good here, innit? Who’s got the salt?”

“Doctor…” Libby sighed.

“Back in your seats! They shouldn’t be here either.”

With a smile, the Time Lord helped himself to some sauce, asking Libby quietly if she wanted anything. “So, you lot… what’s the story?”

“What d’you mean?”

“You’re homeless, right?” Libby asked before Doctor could do so. “Having a rough time on the streets, yes?”

“Why d’you wanna know that? Are you or that man a copper?”

“Of course not! I’m not a copper. What’s a copper gonna do with you lot anyway? Arrest you for starving?”

That got some laughter out of the children, taking away some of the tension in the air.

“Wait, so we come in 1941… why are any of these children here in London?” Libby frowned, furrowing her brows as she looked over the surrounding children. “Wouldn’t they have been evacuated to the countryside by now?”

“I was evacuated. They sent me to a farm.”

“So why come back?” Doctor curiously looked on at the boy who answered Libby.

“There was a man there…”

“Yeah, same with Ernie. Two homes ago.”

“Shut up.” Ernie huffed. “It’s better on the streets anyway, better food.”

“Yeah. Nancy always get the best food for us.”

“Oh! Is that how you do all this?” Libby asked, turning her gaze on the young lady at the head of the table.

“What do you mean miss?”

“Think about it, once the sirens go off, you go hunting for a house with a ton of food while it’s still warm. You wait for whatever family that had that meal go into the shelter during one of the air raids. That gives you the opening you need to feed all the homeless kids you look after in London, even with the risk of bombs falling on top of you.”

Doctor looked rather impressed with Libby as she explained the very process Nancy goes through to secure food. He was about to say something similar but was beaten to the punch. _‘She’s rather perceptive. Elizabeth Woods, you’re starting to interest me.’_

Nancy bristled slightly at the woman’s words, narrowing her eyes. “Something wrong with that miss?”

“Of course not! While I might not like the children to be in danger such as this, I can understand why you go about it. Children are gifts, after all, they need to be taken care of.”

That seem to calm Nancy down somewhat, hearing the sincerity from the golden eyed woman, even earning a touch of respect.

“So, why’d you two follow me? What d’you want from me?”

“I want to know how a phone that isn’t a phone gets a phone call. She’s with me. Besides, you seem to be the one to ask.” Doctor responded.

“I did you a favor. I told you not to answer it, that’s all I’m telling ya.”

“Great, thanks. And while I’m at it, I wanna find a blonde in a Union Jack. I mean a specific one, I didn’t just wake up this morning with a craving.”

Laughter filled the room as both Nancy and Libby didn’t seem to be terribly impressed.

“What he _means_ is that we’re looking for a friend who went missing earlier who is blonde and wearing a Union Jack shirt. Any one you happen to see someone like that?” Libby sighed. Okay so she barely knew the blonde, sue her! It’s better to go with a pretense of a friend rather than trying to explain her weird situation.

Nancy took away the plate Doctor had claimed.

“What? What’d you do that for?” He asked indignantly.

“You took two slices of the meat.” Nancy retorted dryly, earning more laughter. “Besides, I haven’t seen any blondes or any flags. Anything else before you leave?”

“Actually there is, thanks for asking. Something I’ve been looking for, would’ve fallen from the sky about a month ago, but not a bomb.” He grabs a notebook from his pocket and flipped to an empty page before scribbling as he talked. “Not the usual kind anyway. Wouldn’t have exploded. Would’ve just buried itself in the ground somewhere, and it would’ve looked something like… this.”

Flipping the notebook around, Doctor showed off a messy scribbled drawing of… something. He watched Nancy look at the drawing in silence before finding his attention turned elsewhere when knocking on the window could be heard. There was a collective gasped from the children as several made a move to get away from the window.

“Mummy? Are you in there, mummy?”

Doctor grabs at the curtain and pulled it aside carefully to see a child with a gas mask on his face. That seemed to be the source of the knocking.

Libby peered over the Time Lord’s shoulder, studying the strange looking child. Something didn’t seem right. The child sounded so… hollow.

“Mummy?”

Nancy looked over all the children in the dining room with a sense of urgency in her voice. “Who was the last one in?”

Ernie pointed to the Doctor and Libby. “Them.”

“Nah, they came round the back. Who came in the front?”

“Me…” Alf whispered fearfully.

“Did you close the door?”

“I…”

“Did you close the door?” She repeated.

“Mummy? Mummy?” The gasmask child uttered from the outside of the front door. “Muuuuuummmmy?”

Nancy rushed down the hallway and to the door, bolting it shut before it was too late. Slowly she backs away, terror filling her expression as she stared at the shadow of the child. Both Libby and Doctor stood behind her.

“What’s this, then? It’s never easy being the only child left out in the cold, you know.” Doctor said as he watched the shadow in concern.

_‘You would know wouldn’t you?’_ As quickly as the thought appeared, it left her mind, leaving Libby confused as to where that came from. Especially considering she had been looking at the Time Lord when it happened. All she really knew was that the watch hidden under her shirt momentarily heated up before going cold once more.

“I suppose you’d know.” Nancy said.

“I do actually.” He smiles pleasantly at Nancy, as if he was discussing the weather.

“It’s not exactly a child.”

“Muuummy?”

Pushing past the pair, Nancy returned to the finish room and addressed the child still around the table. “Right, everybody out. Head across the back garden and under the fence.”

They simply stared at her.

“Now! Go! Move!” That got them to jump out of their seats and run out of the back door while Nancy hurriedly pulled her coat on, apart from a little girl. “Come on, baby. You’ve got to go. Okay? It’s just like a game. Just like chasing.” She helped the young girl get her coat on before ushering her out the door after the other children. “Go!”

Doctor and Libby looked at each other, wearing similarly identical looks of confusion before watching all the children leave.

“Mummy?”

The Doctor takes a few steps towards the door, watching as a small scarred hand slip through the letterbox.

“Please let me in mummy.”

Golden eyes stared at the hand where the scar is, getting a sense of dread in the pit of her stomach. “Are you alright little one?” She asked softly, grabbing a hold of some leather on the sleeve and tugging the man back some.

“Please let me in.”

Suddenly something was thrown at the door, shattering into small pieces, causing the hand to be withdrawn.

“You mustn’t let him touch ya!”

“What happens if he touches me?”

“He’ll make you like him.”

Frowning, Libby was the one to answer. “What do you mean Nancy? Make us like him?”

Nancy seems to hesitate before finally answering. “He’s… empty.” The phone rings, drawing attention to it. “It’s him. He can make phones ring. Just like with that police box you saw.”

Doctor looks towards the shadow of the child before reaching down to the phone and picked it up.

“Are you my mummy?”

The phone was snatched out of his hand and slammed back into its cradle. Then the radio turned itself on and play some music with the child speaking over it. “Mummy? Please let me in mummy.” When the radio was turned off, a toy monkey comes to life with the child’s voice chanting the same word over and over.

“Stay if you want to.” Nancy was gone.

The hand appeared through the letterbox again. Doctor crouched near the door while looking at the tiny scarred hand with concern. He barely noticed Libby crouching beside in.

“Please let me in.”

“Your mummy isn’t here little one.” Libby cooed soothingly.

“Are you my mummy?” The child asked after a brief pause.

“No little one. There’s not mummies here.” She said.

“None to be here but us chickens.” Doctor added, only to grimace at the look the brunette was giving him. “Well, THIS chicken.”

“I’m scared.”

“Why are those other children frightened of you?”

“Please let me in, mummy. I’m scared of the bombs.”

The Doctor seems to think for a moment. “Okay… I’m going to open the door now.”

The hand disappears like before, giving Doctor a chance to open the door, only to see no trace of the child. He peers out into the street, still seeing nothing.

“Doctor, I don’t like this. Something doesn’t feel right about the child. I don’t know what it is but he felt off.”

“So you’ve noticed it too.” He murmured, taking one last look before grabbing her hand to tug her along. “Come on, we need to go after Nancy. She holds the answers to the mysteries here.”

* * *

It took a while to track down where the young lady was headed but eventually the two found Nancy along the train tracks with food in hand. She turned around upon noticing Doctor and Libby standing in the doorway.

“How’d you follow me here?”

“I’m good at following, me. Got the nose for it.” Doctor said smugly.

“I’m just following him so I’m not stranded.” Libby added nonchalantly.

“People can’t usually follow me if I don’t want them to.”

My nose has special powers.”

Nancy’s lips twitched into a small smile. “Yeah? That’s why it’s uh…”

Libby snorted into her hand as she caught on what she was implying.

“What?” He asked confused, looking between the women.

“Nothing.” Nancy quickly responded, her eyes dancing with mirth.

“What?” Doctor persisted.

“Nothing! Do your ears have special powers too?” Nancy teased.

That got Libby to lose the battle as several soft giggles erupted from her lips, only slightly muffled by her hand. The brunette hunched over with one arm curled over her stomach as her shoulders shook with laughter.

“What are you trying to say?”

“Oh you daft man.” Libby muttered breathlessly as she fought to calm down her breathing.

“Goodnight, mister.” Nancy turns away to leave only to stop when Doctor spoke again.

“Nancy.” His blue eyes stared down at the back of the twin braids girl. “There’s something chasing you and the other kids. Looks like a boy and it isn’t a boy, and it started about a month ago, right? The thing I’m looking for. The thing that fell from the sky, that’s when it landed. And you know what I’m talking about, don’t you?”

“There… was a bomb. A bomb that wasn’t a bomb. Fell the other end of Limehouse Green Station.”

“Take us there, Nancy.”

She shook her head. “There’s soldiers guarding it, barbed wire… you’ll never get through.”

“Try me!”

“You sure you wanna know what’s going on in there? Both of you?”

“Nancy.” Libby spoke, gently touching the girl’s arm. “I think it’s important for us to see for ourselves. Whether you help us now or not, he’ll find his way there, one way or another.”

The young lady seemed to consider that for a few moments, looking between the strange people before sighing softly. “Then there’s someone you need to talk to first.”

“And who might that be?” He asked.  
  
“The Doctor.”

His brows furrowed together in confusion, uttering an ironic laugh as he and Libby trailed after Nancy towards the bomb site and hospital.

The trio stands a good bit away from the bomb site, taking in the scenery through some binoculars while Nancy spoke. “The bomb’s under that tarpaulin. Then put the fence up overnight. See that building?” She points to it. “The hospital.”

“Could that be where the doctor be staying?” Libby asked, squinting at the building as she didn’t have the binoculars, the Doctor did.

“Yes. You should talk to him before you consider getting into the bomb site.”

“Why is that Nancy?” Doctor asked, lowering the binoculars (Which was then promptly stolen by Libby) to look at her.

“‘Cos the maybe you won’t wanna get inside.” Turning on her heel, she heads back down the steps.

“Where’re going?”

There was a lot of food in that house. I’ve got mouths to feed. Should be safe enough now.”

“Can I ask you a question? Who did you lose?”

“What?” Nancy froze, clearly not having expected the question.

“The way you look after all those kids. It’s ‘cos you lost somebody, isn’t it? You’re doing all this to make up for it.”

Nancy looked decidedly uncomfortable and distraught as she gripped the sleeves over her coat. “My little brother, Jamie. One night I went out looking for food. Same night that thing fell. I told him not to follow me - told him it was dangerous, but he just…he just didn’t like being on his own.”

“What happened?”

Libby frowned, smacking his shoulder. “Hey insensitive git, what do you think happened during an air raid?” She asked. After seeing how upset it made the girl speak about the boy, she wanted to step in before Doctor decides to say something else. While it was clear that she really was distraught about losing the child, something about those words didn’t quite seem right. No matter, there’s something else that needs their focus.

As planes in the distance dropped the bombs, a barrage floats above the three people with explosions in the air.

“Right now, not very far from here, a German war machine is rolling up the map of Europe. Country after country, falling like dominoes. Nothing can stop it, nothing. Until one, tiny, damp little island says ‘no’. ‘No’. Not here. A mouse in front of a lion.” The Doctor paused to look at Nancy. “You’re amazing, the lot of you. Dunno what you do to Hitler, but you frighten the hell out of me. Off you go then… do what you’ve gotta do. Save the world.”

He and Libby goes down the rest of the steps to continue towards the hospital.

* * *

One way or another, the two made their way inside the hospital, walking through the hallways to a dark ward. All the beds in this ward were filled with people wearing gas masks, seemingly lifeless. Doctor looked around with furrowed brows before pulling Libby out of the room and head to another ward.

There’s more light in the ward but it looked eerily like the previous one. Libby frowns, grabbing onto his sleeve and stepped closer. She really didn’t like the dread that weighed heavy over her. She jumped when there was a slight sound behind them, coming from an old man.

“You’ll find them everywhere. Every bed in every ward. Hundreds of them.”

“We saw. Why are they still wearing gas masks?” Doctor asked, studying the old man in a white doctor’s coat.

“They’re not. Who are you??

“I’m use… are you the doctor?”

“Doctor Constantine. And you two are?”

“Nancy sent us.”

“Nancy?” The old doctor sounded a bit surprised. “That means you must’ve been asking about the bomb.”

The two nodded, glancing at each other.

“What do you know about it?”

“We know nothing. It’s why I’m asking. What do you know?”

Constantine sighed wearily. “Only what it’s done.”

“These people…” Libby chimed in, looking at the nearest occupied bed. “Were they caught in the blast?”  
  
“None of them were.” There was a slight laugh before it quickly turned in a particularly nasty sounding cough. He eased himself down into a chair behind him, cane in hand while watching the man walk a few steps towards him.

“You’re very sick.”

“Dying, I should think - I just haven’t been able to find the time. Are you a doctor?”

“I… have my moments.”

“Well then, have you examined any of them yet?” When the Doctor shook his head, Constantine continued. “Don’t touch the flesh?”

Doctor quizzically studied the man as he neared one of the beds. “Which one?”

“ANY of them.”

Raising his eyebrows, Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and pressed the button over the mask covered face.

“Conclusions?”

“Massive head trauma, mostly to the left side.” The screwdriver buzzes over the chest, “Partial collapse of the chest cavity, mostly to the right. There’s some scarring on the back of the hand of the hand and the gas mask seems to be fused to the flesh but I can’t see any burns.”

“Examine another one.”

Another body was scanned, giving out the exact same results as the first, causing a look of shock to form on his features before the sonic was turned off and he faced the man. “This isn’t possible.”

“Examine another.” Constantine urged from his chair.

The process repeated a third time, confirming the horrific thoughts that were forming in Doctor’s mind. “They’ve all got the same injuries!”

“Yes.”

“Exactly the same.”

“Yes.”

“Identical, all of them. Right down to the scar on the back of the hand.”

Libby gasped, thinking back on the scar the child’s hand before noticing the old man having one just like it on his own hand.

“How did this happen?” How did it start?”

“When that bomb dropped, there was just one victim.”

“Was he dead?”

“At first.” Constantine said. “His injuries were truly dreadful. By the following morning, every doctor and nurse who had touched him - had those exact same injuries. By morning after that, every patient in the same ward had the exact same injuries. Within a week, the entire hospital. Physical injuries - as a plague. Can you explain that? What would you say was the cause of death?”

Doctor listed off possible causes of death only to be shot down each time. When he exhausted all possibilities based on the injuries, he gave up and asked, ‘ Alright, what was the cause of death?”

“There wasn’t one.” Seeing the confusion on the pair’s faces, he continued. “They’re not dead.” The cane hits against the tin bin and all the patients suddenly sit up and look in their direction.

Doctor looked alarmed and Libby looked horrified with what they were seeing in this very room.

“It’s alright. They’re harmless. They just… sort of, sit there. No heartbeat, no life signs of any kind. They just… don’t die.”

“And they’ve just been left here? Nobody’s doing anything?”

“I try to make them comfortable, what else is there?” Constantine replied as the bodies lie back down on the beds.

“Are you saying you’re the only one here doing anything to help?” Libby asked, clenching her hands tightly together.

“Before this war began, I was a father and a grandfather. Now I am neither. But I am still a doctor.”

When the word war was mentioned, Libby ended up drifting into trance as she heard various noises and voices. She didn’t hear the continued conversation between the men, nor did she notice when a transformation occurred, turning Constantine into another one of the gas mask beings. She only snapped back into the present moment when a gentle hand touched her arm.

At some point Rose appeared and was looking at the brunette with a worried filled gaze. “Hey… you okay Libby? You seemed like you out of it when me and Jack found you guys here.”

“Uh… yeah. I’m fine. Just lost in my own thoughts, I guess.” Libby brushed off any other questions that could pertain to what it was. “Where did you go Rose? You disappeared on us. I was worried when I couldn’t see you.”

“I’ll explain later. First, we need to stop those two from snapping each other’s head off.” The blonde jerked her thumb towards the arguing men.

“This started at the bomb site. It’s got everything to do with it. What kind of warship?” Doctor growled angrily, glaring at Jack.

“An Ambulance!” Jack turned on his wrist device to show a hologram of the device that had crash landed. “That’s what you chased through the Time Vortex. It’s space junk. I wanted to kid you it was valuable. It’s empty. I made sure of it. Nothing but a shell. I threw at you. Saw your time travel vehicle - love the retro look, by the way, nice panels - threw you the bait -“

“Wait, did you say bait?” Rose asked.

“I wanted to sell it to you and then destroy it before you found out it was junk.”

“You said it was a WARship.”

“They have ambulances in wars.” Jack huffed in annoyance as he walked away. “It was a con. I was conning you - that’s what I am, I’m a con man. I thought you were Time Agents but you’re not, are you?”

“Just a trio of freelancers.” Rose shrugged.

“Ahh… should’ve known. The way you three are blending in with the local color. I mean, Flag girl was bad enough but U-Boat Captain?” Jack snarked, watching as the pair looked at their clothes before rounding on the other female. “And you, you seem to blend in a bit better but you look a bit too much of a librarian.”

Libby scowled, stomping over to the pretty boy and jabbed a finger into his chest. “That’s because I _am_ a librarian you prat. I suggest you keep your mouth shut if you don’t want to risk me doing anything to your family jewels.”

Jack wisely changed the topic back to what they were talking about. “Anyway… whatever’s happening here has nothing to do with that ship.”

“What _is_ happening here, Doctor?” Rose asked, looking around the room.

“Human DNA being rewritten… by an idiot.”

“Wait what? What do you mean by that Doctor?” Libby asked.

The Time Lord gave the brown haired female a look, realizing that Libby hadn’t paid attention the entire time. “I don’t know exactly, some kind of virus. It’s converting human beings into these things.” He nodded at the bodies around the room. “But why? What’s the point?”

Rose bent over to get a closer look at one of the bodies. Suddenly it sits up along with all of the others in the room. She was pulled backwards by Libby (who happened to be nearby) as the bodies all chanting the word ‘mummy’ while getting out of the bed. “What’s happening Doctor?” She asked, shuffling back towards where the Time Lord and Con man stood with Libby.

“I don’t know.”

Slowly the gas mask beings slowly enclose the four against a wall.

“Don’t let them touch you.” Doctor urged.

“What happens if they touch us?” Rose asked.

“You’re looking at it.”

Libby’s head snapped towards the leather clad man, fear sparking in her eyes. She looked back at the zombie like beings, realizing in horror what happened to the kindly doctor from earlier as he’s front of the pack. “Oh my god… what did I get into?”

* * *

AN: And Cut! This took me a while to write out this chapter. But I’m glad that I finally managed to complete it. I promise in the coming adventures, Libby will be proactive and interact more once she settles into her new life, this first time round, she just doesn’t know how to handle most of it so a lot of it is observing and paying attention to how Doctor to act.

To be honest, I have to say that my favorite little blurb I wrote was the brief interaction between Libs and Jack. Not exactly amused that he insulted her choice of clothing. I do have an idea how they’ll treat each other in the future but for now, I’ll keep quiet.

See you next time on The Doctor Dances!


	3. Chapter 2: The Doctor Dances

Last time on The Beginnings:

_"What happens if they touch us?" Rose asked._

_"You're looking at it."_

_Libby's head snapped towards the leather clad man, fear sparking in her eyes. She looked back at the zombie like beings, realizing in horror what happened to the kindly doctor from earlier as he's front of the pack. "Oh my god… what did I get into?"_

**Chapter 2 The Doctor Dances:**

As the gas mask beings surround the quartet, Doctor took on a stern look as he stood in front of the group. "Go to your room." He said, sounding as if he's addressing a disobedient child.

There was a pause as the beings stopped short from grabbing anyone.

"Go to your room!" He repeated, his voice rising as he squared his shoulders and stood up straighter to look more opposing.

The gas mask beings cocked their heads to one side, all the while Libby, Jack and Rose gave each other looks.

"Is he trying to sound like he's scolding a child?" Libby muttered to Rose.

"I think so? I hope this won't come to bite us if it doesn't work."

Doctor sharply points in no particular direction, scowling at the beings. "I mean it! I am very, very angry with you. I am very, VERY cross! Go - to - your - ROOM!"

By some miracle, it worked. The other three released breaths of relief as every last gas mask being return to their beds with their heads hanging. Libby herself slumped against Rose slightly, all the tension leaving her body.

The Doctor himself sighs with relief. "I'm really glad that worked. Those would've been TERRIBLE last words."

"You think?" Libby hissed, narrowing her eyes dangerously. She stalked towards the tall alien and reached up to grab his large ear and gave it a hard tug so he can be brought more to her level.

"Ow! Hey! Easy on the ear!" Doctor protested, wincing at the pain brought about by the golden eyed female who was giving him a nasty look.

"What were you thinking? There's no way you could've known that was going to work. You know what, don't answer that. I don't think I'm going to like whatever answer you come up with." Letting go, Libby turned back and walked back to Rose, ignoring the Time Lord staring at her back.

Rose sensing the tension, chose to divert the attention for the time being. "So why are they all wearing gas masks?"

"They're not. Those masks are flesh and bone." Jack said.

"How was your con supposed to work?" Doctor asked once he stopped rubbing at his sore ear, narrowing blue eyes towards Jack.

"Simple really. Find some harmless piece of space junk… let the nearest Time Agent track it back to Earth. Convince him it's valuable, name a price. When they put fifty percent up front," Jack pretended to gasp, "Oops! A German bomb falls on it, destroys it forever. They never get to see what was paid for. Never realizes they've been had. I buy them a drink with their own money, and we discussion dumb luck. The perfect self-cleaning con."

"Yeah… Perfect."

Still stewing in some anger after that WONDERFUL close call, Libby turned on Jack. "Oh really? Choosing moments in time like this where something like your so called 'junk' is likely to be destroyed? Quite a self cleaning con you're running here, pretty boy. What's next? You mention something like Pompeii?"

That's exactly what he was going to say but with the dangerous gleam in those otherworldly eyes made him thought better of it. "Erm… Getting a hint of disapproval here."

"Take a look around the room. This is what your 'harmless piece of space junk' did." Doctor motioned around the room.

"It was a burnt out medical transported. It was empty." Jack insisted.

Doctor turned on his heel and started to head out the door. "Rose, Libby."

"Are we leaving Doctor?" Libby asked, hurrying after the alien with Rose and Jack hot on her heels.

"We're going upstairs."

"I programmed the flight computer so it wouldn't land on anything living. I harmed no one!" Jack called out from the back of the pack. "I don't know what's happening here, but believe me, I have nothing to do with it."

"Are you sure about that?" Libby asked cooly, gently rubbing at her chest, or rather the watch.

The siren goes off in the distance, signaling the all clear.

"What's that?" Rose wondered.

"The all clear."

Doctor snorts. "I wish." He leaves the ward entirely, heading up to the room belonging to the child. Because he was so quick, the ladies and Jack lost sight of him.

"Mr. Spock?"

"Doctor?"

Rose and Jack dashed past a flight of stairs, only to see Doctor pop his head around the banister. Libby was the only one that stopped short where the fast paced alien appeared.

"Have you got a blaster Jack?"

"Sure!"

Now standing outside the door to the room they need to look into, Doctor turned on Jack. "The night your space junk landed, someone was hurt. This was where they were taken."

Despite having zoned out one of the earlier discussions with Constantine, Libby gasped. "You mean… the child?"

He gave her a grim nod. "Let's find out, shall we? Get it open Con man."

The blaster in Jack's handed pointed at the door and activated. A square hole formed where it was aimed, letting them inside.

"What's wrong with your sonic screwdriver?" Rose asked quietly to the Doctor.

"Nothing." Doctor responded, pushing the door open. "Sonic Blaster, 51st century. Weapon Factories of Villengard?"

Jack looked surprised. "You've been to the factories?"

Snatching the blaster for a better look, Doctor hummed. "Once."

"Well, they're gone now. Destroyed. The main reactor went critical. Vapourized the lot."

Returning the blaster, the alien smirked. "Like I said, once. There's a banana grove there now. I like bananas. Bananas are good."

"Hm… A squareness gun. The concept is neat, but I wouldn't want to be caught dead with a weapon." Libby murmured after glancing at the gun before stepping into the room after the Doctor. She missed the interested look Doctor gave her.

The light flickers on to reveal a room full of drawings made by a child. Drawings on the walls, on the table, even a few on the bed and floor. The window is broken with things all over the floor.

"This is a child's room…" Libby said quietly, touching one of the drawings with a small frown marring her features.

"A child? I supposed this explains the 'mummy' part." Jack said uneasily. "It must've been powerful and angry if it could break through a window."

Doctor turn on the tape to play a recording of Constantine speaking to the child and let's it play in the background.

"I've heard this voice before." Rose said, looking around the room before settling on the Doctor.

"Us too."

"Mummy?"

"I've noticed… every time the child speaks, he's asking for his mummy." Libby murmured. "It's like… he doesn't even know who his mother is. Why? Shouldn't he know? Unless…" But she didn't verbally finished that thought.

It was then that she picked up the reels of the tape spin, signaling that the recording ended.

"Mummy? Please mummy? Mummy?"

Pacing around the room, Doctor crossed his arms over his chest. "Can you sense it?"

"Sense what?" Jack asked.

"Coming out of the walls, can you feel it?"

"Mummy?"

Libby tensed, now realized that the sounds she heard and the implications of that. Slowly, she looked towards where she heard the voice, not hearing the Doctor insulting the human race or the explanation of why he does that. The child stood on the other side of the window, staring at the group, or more specific Libby.

"I'm here!"

"-It's got power of a god, and I just sent it to its room." Doctor finished with a small laugh.

A loud crackling noise filled the room. "Um, Doctor? We need to move." Libby said, pulling on his sleeve as she backed away from the window.

"I'm here, can't you see me?"

"What's that noise?" Rose asked fearfully.

The smile faded as he listened to the noise and spotted Libby tugging on him. "That was the end of the tape. It ran out about thirty seconds ago."

"Yes, and we need to get out of here!" Libby urged, looking back over to the child which prompted the others to do the same.

"I sent it to it's room. THIS is its room." Doctor said slowly as realization dawned on him.

"Are you my mummy?" The child asked, cocking its head to one side while staring at Libby.

Jack spoke up as he inched away from the broken window. "Okay… on my signal… make for the door. Now!" He whipped something out of his pocket, only to see a banana in his hand.

Grinning gleefully, he produced the squareness gun and points to a wall, creating a square hole. "Go! Now! Don't drop the banana!"

Libby was the first through the hole, stumbling as her foot caught the edge. She cursed as she tumbled onto the floor.

As Jack came through after Rose, the man pulled Libby up before snatching back his blaster. "Give me that!" He points it back at the hole, pressing the trigger and rebuilt the wall before the child could get through before tossing back the banana to the Doctor. "Digital Rewind, nice switch."

"It's from the Groves of Villengard. I thought it was appropriate."

"There's really a banana grove in the heart of Villengard and you did that?"

Doctor shrugged. "Bananas are good."

There was thumping that could be hear as cracks began to form.

"Now's not the time to compare bananas!" Libby snapped, already taking off before even the Doctor made a move.

They hurried down a flight of stairs, turning into another corridor before other patients began to burst through other wards, shuffling towards the group, all saying the same thing. Attempting another direction led them into even more gas mask beings, effectively cornering them.

"It's keeping us here so it can get at us."

Jack points his blaster in each of the directions where danger was coming from. "It's controlling them?"

"It IS them. It's every living thing in this hospital."

"Okay. This can function as a sonic blaster, a sonic cannon, and a triple enfolded sonic disrupter. What do you got, Doc?"

Doctor pulls out his sonic screwdriver, about to respond when he watched the blaster in Jack's hand being pointed at the danger around them. "A sonic er… never mind. Not important."

"What?"

Doctor turned to face the other group of gas mask beings that is slowly shuffling towards them, switching on his sonic. "It's sonic, okay? Let's leave it at that."

"Disrupter? Cannon? What?"

"It's sonic! Totally sonic! I am sonic-ed up!"

"A sonic WHAT?!"

"SCREWDRIVER!"

Jack spun around, looking at the Doctor. It was at that moment, that the child managed to create a hole in the wall and started to climb through.

"Oh for the love of-" Libby groaned. She felt her watch warmed up against her skin as some unfamiliar knowledge filtered into her head. So she snatched the blaster from Jack and pointed it to the ground below them. "Hold on! One way trip to the floor below!" She pressed the trigger, blasting a hole in the floor, sending the four of them down into a messing heap. Pointing it back up, she switched settings so the digital rewind closes the hole before their pursuers could come through.

"Doctor? Libby? You okay?" Rose asked, sitting up and rubbing her head.

Doctor turned his blue eyes onto the brown haired female, giving her a glare. "Could've used a warning!"

Libby snorts, tossing the blaster back to Jack. "And wait for you two children to listen? You were getting ready to get into a 'my horse is bigger than your horse' argument." She snarked, moving to stand… only to fall back with a wince.

Because of her last second decision, she ended up spraining her ankle. It was already starting to swell up and develop a bit of a purplish hue. Libby cursed under her breath with a string of colorful choice of words.

Rose saw this and walked to Libby, flinching slight as she caught sight of what caused the other female. "Hey… that looks painful. Let me help you up."

The blonde grabbed Libby's arm and pulled it around her shoulder before standing up with the injured female.

"Come on, we need to get a light on. It's too dark to see properly." Libby said, a tone of unease slipped in, already urging the blonde to poke around for a light switch. It took a couple of minutes before there was success. "Ha!"

Unfortunately, the room was filled with more gas masks, sitting up and chanting 'mummy'.

"Door."

The group rushed to the door (or as much as possible on Libby's end) of the ward, attempting to leave, only to find it was locked. Jack tried to blast it open with his sonic blaster, but that failed.

"Damn it!" He stepped back, allowing the Doctor to get in and use the sonic screwdriver instead. "It's special features, they really drain the battery."

"The battery?!"

Doctor finally managed to get the door open.

"Really pretty boy? That has to be one of the worst flaws I have ever heard of. Did it not ever occur to you to carry a spare battery or even an alternative when it does happen?" Libby sneered in annoyance as she and Rose went through the door.

The door is slammed closed and locked with the trusty sonic screwdriver.

Jack ran to the window to momentarily look out of it before looking back at the Doctor with a glare. "I was gonna send for another one, but SOMEBODY's had to blow up the factory."

"Oh, I know. First day I met him, he blew my job up. That's practically how he communicates."

Libby wore a questioning look at Rose, opening her mouth to ask for more details only for the Doctor to speak instead. Another time then.

"Okay, that door should hold it for a bit."

"The door?! The WALL didn't stop it!"

"Well, it's gotta FIND us first! Come on, we're not done yet! Assets, assets!"

"Well, I've got a banana and at a pinch, you could put up some shelves."

Doctor moved towards the window, like Jack had done earlier. "Window-"

"Barred, sheer drop outside. Seven stories."

"There doesn't seem to be any other exits. And I don't particularly plan on falling from a height again." Libby huffed. When she saw Jack sit in the other chair, she growled. "Oh no you don't buster." The brunette grabbed his ear and jerked him out with a surprising amount of strength.

Jack yelped, stumbling away from the chair. He watched her sit in the chair he had occupied for a moment before shaking his head. "Well, the assets conversation went in a flash, didn't it?"

The Doctor eyed him for a second, turning his gaze to Rose. "So, where'd you pick this one up, then?"

"Doctor…"

"She was hanging from a barrage balloon, I had an invisible spaceship. I never stood a CHANCE."

Rose looked somewhat uncomfortable, shrinking under the intense look Libby had given her.

"Wait, what? You were HANGING from a barrage balloon? How did you even end up in that situation?"

"Um… I had heard a child's voice calling for his mummy so I followed him. Before I knew it, I grabbed a rope and found myself floating away from solid ground." Rose responded, rubbing her arm.

"- Have I missed anything?" Of course the Doctor hadn't even noticed their conversation and went about what he was saying.

Suddenly realizing that Jack hadn't responded with a snide comment, Rose looked around to see him gone. "Yeah… Jack just disappeared."

"Of course he'd disappeared… the coward." Libby muttered under her breath. She felt a touch irritated towards the con man. Why? Hard to say for sure right now.

"Okay, so he's vanished into thin air. Why is it always the great looking ones who do that?"

"I'm making an effort not to be insulted."

"You shouldn't be Doctor." Libby interjected. "I find you to be rather attractive yourself, big ears and all." When the other two turned their gazes onto her, Libby's cheeks took on a pink dusting. "I… said that out loud, didn't I?"

The Doctor seemed both amused and flattered. He knew that he isn't exactly a looker with this face, but to have a relative stranger admit that she liked it, caused his twin hearts to beat at a quicker pace. How odd.

Rose just looked amused, her lips twitching into a small smirk.

"Rose? Doctor? Libby? Can the three of you hear me?" An old radio nearby springs to life with Jack's voice coming through the speaker grille. "I'm back on my ship. Used the emergency teleport. Sorry I couldn't take you."

Libby, having been the closest to the radio, frowns as she held the wires up. They had been clearly ripped out of the radio. So how could it be working at all?

"It's security-keyed to my molecular structure. I'm working on it, hang in there."

"How are you speaking to us?"

"Om-Com. I can call anything with a speaker grille."

"Now there's a coincidence." Doctor said thoughtfully.

"What is?"

"The child can Om-Com too, pretty boy. Nancy, someone Doctor and I met earlier, said earlier that he could do that with anything that has a speaker grille." Libby responded, paling somewhat.

"And I can hear you." The child said in a singsong voice, making him sound rather frightening considering the situation. "Coming to find you. Coming to fiiiiiind you."

"Doctor, can you hear that?"

"Loud and clear."

"I'll try to block out the signal. Least I can do."

"Coming to find you mummy!"

Jack flicks a switch. "Remember this one, Rose?" The song Moonlight Serenade plays through the radio.

For a moment, Libby appreciatively listened to the music before looking towards the blonde teen. "Really? I'm surprised pretty boy would listen to anything Glenn Miller has made. Doesn't seem the type." She paused, thinking over what she observed of the man thus far. It was clear that he's a massive flirt. "Okay… never mind. A player like him might just do it to draw in the ladies."

Rose blushed, wearing an expression of embarrassment, shifting from one foot to the other.

Of course it took a while for anything of note to happen so now was a good time for Libby and Rose to get to know one another.

"Really? You spend all of your time around books?" Rose asked curiously. "No offense but it almost seems to be kinda boring to do on a daily basis."

Libby snorts. "Maybe to someone who doesn't love to read on the same level as I do. But I can promise you, I've had my fair share of… interesting patrons. We still have people to deal anyways. Besides, you can practically visit all sorts of different worlds throughout books!" She dramatically looked around before leaning in close to impart a secret. "My personal favorite has to be the Harry Potter series. I might not be happy with the author but I adore the world and characters in her books."

Rose smiled a bit, hearing the passion. "I guess so. Out of curiosity, when are you from? 2006 like me?"

"Oh, well I'm from 2019." Libby hums. "A lot changes between your time and mine from my personal knowledge."

Doctor glanced up from what he was doing and eyed at the brunette. While she might have started out quiet when this adventure started, something about her really caught his attention. He didn't know what but there was something special, stirring a deep, primitive feeling to rumble to life. He felt like he should know what that feeling is and why but, as of now, it didn't make much sense.

"What are you doing?" Rose asked suddenly, snapping the Doctor out of his thoughts.

He held up his sonic against the wall near the window. "Trying to set up a resonation pattern in the concrete. Loosen up the bars."

"You don't think he's coming back, do ya?"

"Wouldn't bet my life."

"Why don't you trust him?"

"Why do you?"

"Saved my life. Block-wise, that's up there with flossing." There wasn't an answer. "I trust him 'cos he's like you. Except with the dating and dancing."

"What?"

Libby snorts as Doctor shot Rose a look. "Somehow I think they're very different men. Doctor doesn't need to flirt his way out." She received a look of gratitude.

"You just assume I'm…" Doctor looked vulnerable then.

"What?" Rose repeated.

"You just assume that I don't… dance."

Rose grinned her signature grin. "What, are you telling me you DO… dance?"

"Nine hundred years old, me. I've been around a bit. I think you can assume that at some point I've DANCED."

Despite how amusing the conversation had been, Libby found herself stuck on one detail. His age. "… You look rather good for a man that lived nine centuries." She mumbled, ignoring the grinning face of Rose.

"You?!"

"Problem?"

"Does's the universe implode or something if you… dance?"

Doctor waved his hand dismissively. "Well, I've got the move but I wouldn't want to boast."

Rose snickered, pulling him away from where he stood and pushed him towards Libby in the chair. "You got the moves? Why don't you show me your moves? Maybe Libby would appreciate your… dancing."

The Doctor blushed, getting red in the ears. "Rose, I'm trying to resonate concrete."

"Jack'll be back. He'll get us out. So until then, enjoy the dance with our new friend. The world won't end 'cos the Doctor dances."

The sonic snapped close and put into pocket within his jacket. He didn't really understand why the blonde was doing this, but he couldn't complain. There hadn't been much of a chance to talk to the brunette since the adventure started. She was a mystery to him that he intended to solve. He offer's his hand to Libby.

"May I have this dance?"

"Um… Sure I guess? Im a rubbish dancer though. I hope you don't mind." Libby murmured, taking his hand and rose to her feet, a brief wince flashing across her face. Of course she ended up favoring her injured foot, the fact the Time Lord finally noticed as they swayed to the music.

"You okay?"

"Just fine. Sprained my ankle, that's all." Libby said, waving off the concern he was giving her.

"Maybe I should have a look at that in the TARDIS." He mumbled before stopping when he realized something. "Barrage balloon?" Doctor looked to Rose to indicate he was speaking to her.

"… What?"

"You were hanging from a barrage balloon, right?"

"Oh… right. About a couple minutes after I left you guys, found myself hanging above London, thousands of feet in the air. Middle of a German raid with my Union Jack over my chest."

The Doctor and Libby raised their brows at Rose.

"I've travelled with a lot of people, but you're setting new records for jeopardy-friendly."

Rose shrugged. "What? I can't help it if you seem to bring us to places with danger."

"You hung from a rope a thousand feet above London. You don't have a cut or bruise on your hands, do you?"

Rose held up her hands to show her unblemished hands. There wasn't even a hint of what should be rope burn. "I know, Captain Jack fixed me up when he brought me onto his ship."

"Oh? We're calling him 'Captain Jack' now, are we?"

"Well, his name's Jack and he's a captain…"

Doctor smirked slightly in a self-satisfied way. "He's not really a captain, Rose."

"D'you know what I think? I think you're experiencing Captain envy." She said smugly, the expression only growing when the Time Lord didn't really deny her words. "Now actually dance Doctor. You'll find your feet at the end of your legs. It might help to move them."

Doctor rolled his eyes, moving a touch more with Libby who had been quiet throughout that discussion. "I rather not do much more than this. It's be a bad idea to worsen her injury when we're so far from the TARDIS." He pointed out. "Besides, if he was a captain, he's been defrocked."

"Actually, I quit." Jack said suddenly. "Nobody takes my frock."

* * *

The trio looked up in surprise, having been so deep in the conversation (or in Libby's case, her thoughts), that they didn't notice the change of setting. Doctor steps back slightly, only staying closer to act as support if he needs to.

"Most people notice when they've been teleported." Jack hummed, looking over his shoulder. "Sorry about the delay. I had to take the nav-com offline to override the teleport security."

"You can spend ten minutes overriding your own protocols? Maybe you should remember whose ship it is."

"Oh, I do. She was GORGEOUS." Jack smirked. "Like I told her, be back in five minutes."

While Jack ducks into a compartment underneath the console, the Doctor looked around the ship. "This is a Chula ship."

"Yeah, just like that medical transporter. Only this one IS dangerous."

The Time Lord snaps his fingers, bringing a bunch of nano genes around it.

"Oh! Those are it! They're what fixed my hands up! Jack called 'em, um…"

"Nanogenes." Libby murmured, her eyes glazed over as she looked over the glow around the man's hand, once again her hidden watch whispering bits of knowledge into her head.

Doctor's head snapped towards the brunette. He hadn't expected her to even know what those were, not based off the earlier talk between the human females earlier.

"Yeah… like she said, nanogenes."

"Sub-atomic robots. There's millions of them in here, see?" He held his hand up as it healed before their eyes. "Burned my hand on the console when we landed. All better now. They activate when the bulk head's sealed. Check you out for damage, fix any physical flaws."

"Huh… That's why my ankle don't hurt anymore." Libby chimed in, eyes drifting down to her perfectly healed ankle. There wasn't even a hint of swelling that was there before.

Doctor waved away the nanogenes now that they did their job. "Take us to the crash site. I need to see your space junk."

Jack scoffed. "As soon as I get the nav-com back online. Might as well and make yourself comfortable. Carry on whatever it was you were… doing."

Libby narrowed her eyes, coming back into the present. "Must you make it sound so dirty, you walking sex joke?"

Jack simply grinned.

* * *

"There it is." Jack said, spotting a man on duty. "Ay, they've got Algy on duty. Must be important."

"We've gotta get past."

"The words 'distract the guard' head in my general direction." Rose chirped.

"Rose, honey…" Libby bit her lip as she stared at the soldier Jack pointed out. "I don't think he has a preference towards women."

Jack looked surprised at her statement. "She's right. I've gotten to know Algy quite well from the moment I arrived in town. Trust me, you're not really his type Rose. I'll distract him. Don't wait up."

Rose frowns a bit, looking at Libby. "How did you know that? He looked like any old bloke."

Libby blushed a bit, fidgeting where she stood. "I've seen tons of guys hiding in the closet over the years. It doesn't take me much to get an idea when one has a preference to the same sex."

"Besides…" Doctor interjected. "He's a fifty first century guy. He's just a bit more…. Flexible when it comes to dancing."

"HOW flexible?" The blonde inquired curiously.

"Well, by his time, you lot have spread out across half the galaxy."

"Meaning…?"

He grinned widely. "So many species, so little time…"

"What, that's what we do when we get out there? That's our mission? We seek new life, and… and…"

"Dance."

The brunette huffed a bit, crossing her arms. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised. It would've been only a matter of time before curiosity got the best of humanity before they jump into exploring what they could do with aliens."

It didn't take long for the trio to notice the soldier Jack was speaking to coughing and hacking, falling to his knees. Before their very eyes, they watched the man transform into one of those gas mask beings.

Libby looked on in horror, now realizing that the nice human doctor went through this too. She hadn't paid attention at the time so she didn't know how terrifying it really was. "Doctor…"

When the other soldiers started to hurry over, the Doctor shouted, "Stay back!"

"You men! Stay away!"

The Doctor, Libby and Rose rushed over to Jack and what was formerly know as Algy.

"The effect's become air-borne. Accelerating." Doctor said grimly.

"What's keeping US safe?"

"Nothing."

The air raid siren sounds once more, catching everyone's attention.

"Ah, here they come again."

Rose groaned a bit. "All we need. Didn't you say a bomb was gonna land… HERE?"

Jack nods. Then they could hear soft singing in the background, coming from the nearby building.

"Never mind about that. If the contaminants air-borne now, there's hours left."

"For what?"

"What do you think?" Libby snarked. "If whatever this is, is now in the air, it's only a matter of time before all of humanity on Earth becomes like the child."

"Right." Doctor responded. "Can anyone else hearing singing?"

Nancy was the one singing, singing a lullaby to the gas mask being asleep on the table between her and it. She heard the door creak open and saw the Doctor poke his head into the room. He urged her to keep singing while he approaches her. He took his sonic screwdriver out of his leather jacket and flick it on. A soft buzzing could be heard, causing the handcuffs to snap open, freeing her.

Doctor and Nancy hurried back to the bomb site where the others were waiting, uncovering the Chula med-ship.

"You see? Just an ambulance." Jack said.

"That's an ambulance?" Nancy asked, confused as she looked at the crashed ship.

"It's hard to explain." Rose said reassuringly, wrapping an arm around the young woman. "It's… it's from another a world."

"They've been trying to get in."

"Of COURSE they have. They think they've got their hands on Hitler's latest secret weapon. What're you doing?"

Jack entered the code while the Doctor spoke. "Well, the sooner you see this thing is empty, the sooner you'll see I had nothing to do with it." The controls explode with sparks, making everyone jump backwards as an alarm goes off. "Didn't happen last time."

"It hadn't crashed last time. They're the emergency protocols." Doctor retorted, giving the other man a hard look.

"Doctor, what IS that?" Rose shouted over the blaring alarms.

"Captain! Secure those gates!" Doctor ordered as the gates on the other side of the bomb site shake.

"Why?"

"Just do it!" He barked at the Con Man before turning to Nancy. "Nancy, how'd you get in here?"

"I cut the wire."

Doctor considered that for a moment. "Alright, show Libby and Rose." He said, tossing the sonic to the blonde of the pair. "setting two thousand four hundred and twenty eight D."

"What?"

"It reattaches barbed wire. Now go!"

* * *

Rose got to work on the wire, reattaching the barbed wire with the sonic screwdriver. Libby watched very closely, getting a sense of familiarity with the strange tube device. She shook her head clear when Nancy spoke.

"Who are you? Who are any of you?"

"You'd never believe us if we told ya."

"You just told me that was an ambulance from another world." The twin braids young woman pointed out. "There are people running around with gas mask heads calling for their mummies, and the sky's full of Germans dropping bombs on me. Tell me. Do you think there's anything left I couldn't believe?"

Rose and Libby gave each other looks before turning their gaze onto Nancy. "We're time travelers from the future."

Nancy found herself forcing a laugh. "Mad you are."

"It's true though Nancy." Libby said quietly, touching the younger woman's shoulder. "We came here in a time machine."

"It's not that." She shook her head. "All right, you've got a time travel machine. I believe ya both. Believe anything, me. But what future…?" Nancy asked quietly, looking up to the sky sadly.

"Nancy…" Libby squeezed her shoulder. "I know it doesn't seem like it now, not with all those bombs going off and all that death but… it WILL end. This war I mean."

"How can you say that? LOOK at it."

"Nancy dear, human history is filled with wars but you know what?" She smiled at the distressed female. "The outcome you feared with the Germans won't come to pass. Look at my friend Rose, she was born here in London, about fifty years from now."

Nancy looked confused, looking between the time travelers. "From here?"

"I'm a Londoner. From your future." Rose smiles.

"But… but you're not…"

"What?"

"German."

"Nancy, like Libby said, the Germans don't come here. They don't win. Don't tell anyone I told you so, but do you know what? YOU win."

"We win?"

Rose and Libby shared a smile, nodding. This time, when Nancy laughs, it didn't sound as forced, not when she's gotten some truly good news.

Meanwhile, Jack opened the hatch of the med-ship so the Doctor could see. "It's empty. Look at it."

The ladies joined the men as the Doctor responded in annoyance. "What do you expect in a Chula medical transporter? Bandages? Cough drops? Rose?"

Rose furrowed her brows. "I dunno."

"Yes, you do." He said, miming what he did to summon the nanogenes earlier on Jack's ship.

Her eyes widen as she remembered. "Nanogenes!"

"It wasn't empty, Captain. There was enough nanogenes in there to rebuild a species."

Now realizing what he had unleashed onto the world, Jack looked ashened. "Oh, God…"

"Getting it now, are we? When the ship crashes, the nanogenes escape. Billions upon billions of them, ready to fix all the cuts and bruises in the whole world. But what they find first is a dead child, probably killed earlier that night and wearing a gas mask."

"And they brought his back to life? They can DO that?" Rose asked.

"What's life? Life's easy. A quirk of matter. Nature's way of keeping meat fresh. Nothing to a nanogene." The Doctor shrugged before continuing. "One problem, though… these nanogenes, they're not like the ones on your ship. This lot have never seen a human being before. Don't know what a human being's supposed to look like."

All three were listening intently during the explanation. Libby in particular, looked pale as a ghost as she dug her fingers into the palm of her hands.

"All they've got to go on is one little body, and there's not a lot left. But they carry right on. They do what they're programmed to do, they patch it up. Cant tell what's gas mask and what's skull, but they do their best. They off they fly, off they go, work to be done. 'Cos you see NOW the THINK they know what people should look like and it's time to fix all the rest. And they won't ever stop. They won't ever, ever stop. The entire Human Race is gonna be torn down and rebuilt in the form of one terrified child looking for its mother, and NOTHING in the world can stop it!"

"I didn't know…" Jack said defiantly, meeting the Doctor's cold, angry glare.

"Rose? Libby?" Nancy called, scared which brought the travelers to her side. They see where Nancy's gaze went. While there was still some distance between them and their doom, it's still too close for comfort.

"It's bringing the gas mask people here, isn't it?"

"The ship thinks it's under attack. It's calling up the troops. Standard protocol."

"But… the gas mask people aren't troops…"

"They are now. This a battlefield ambulance. The nanogenes don't just fix you up, they get you ready for the front line. Equip you, program you."

Realization dawned on Libby and Rose at the same time. "Oh… that's why the child is so strong. And the ability to contact through a speaker grille." Libby murmured. "It's been made into something like a soldier."

"Yes, a fully equipped Chula warrior. All that weapons tech in the hands of a hysterical four year old, looking for his mummy. And now there's an army of them."

They watched as the beings surround the fence. Other than that, there doesn't seem to be much else action, though it doesn't do much to ease the tension.

"Why don't they attack?" Jack asked.

"Good little soldiers. Waiting for their commander."

"The child?"

"Jamie." Nancy said in response to Jack, glaring at him. "Not 'the child'. Jamie."

The Doctor gave her a thoughtful look, not noticing a similar expression on Libby's own. Nor did he notice the subtle widen of eyes or the 'O' forming from her lips.

"So, how long until the bomb falls?" Rose asked, glancing at the sky.

"Any second."

"What's the matter, Captain? Bit close to the volcano for you?" Doctor sneered.

"He's just a little boy." Nancy murmured.

"I know."

"He's just a little boy who wants his mummy."

"I know. There isn't a little boy born who wouldn't tear the world apart to save his mummy. And this little boy can."

"So what're we gonna DO?" Rose asked.

"I don't know."

Nancy sniffles as tears well up in her eyes. "It's my fault."

"No."

"It is. It's all my fault." She began to sob uncontrollably, finding herself in Libby's arms.

"How can it be your-" He stopped, looking around at the beings surrounding the group. He was finally realizing the truth about the identity of the empty child and his connection to Nancy.

Before the Doctor could begin his questioning, Libby was the one the speak, rubbing the young woman's back. "That little boy… Jamie, is it? He's not your little brother is he?" She got a head shake at that. "You must've been scared huh? Being a teenage mother in this era… So what else could you do but hide the truth from everyone, Jamie included." Nancy nods, sobbing in Libby's arms.

During the talk the brunette was giving to Nancy, she didn't hear the Doctor "convince" Jack to do what he must in that moment. She didn't see what he did or the betrayal on Rose's face.

The gates swing wide open, with the child, Jamie, up front and center. "Are you my mummy?"

"He's gonna keep asking, Nancy. He's never gonna stop. Tell him." The Doctor told her gently. "Nancy… the future of the human race is in your hands. Trust me… and tell him."

"Are you my mummy?"

Libby lets go of the young mother and urged her forward towards the child.

"Are you my mummy? Are you my mummy?"

"Yes." Nancy whispered, taking a breath as she faced him and he slowly walks forwards. "Yes. I AM your mummy."

"Mummy?"

"I'm here."

"Are you my mummy?"

Nancy kneels before him. "I'm here."

"Are you my mummy?"

"Yes."

"He doesn't understand." Doctor said quietly to Rose and Libby. "There's not enough of him left."

Nancy looked at her little boy in tears. "I am your mummy. I will always be your mummy. I'm so sorry." The she takes him into her arms, no longer caring what will happen to her. The nanogenes surround them, surrounding them in a soft, golden light. "I am so sorry."

"Whats happening?" Rose asked, looking a little alarmed. "Doctor, its changing her, we should-"

She was silenced by the Doctor when he held up an arm. He stares intently at the mother son duo, hopeful yet wary. "Come on, please. Come on, you CLEVER little nanogenes, figure it out! The mother. She's the mother! There's gotta be enough information, figure it out!"

"What's happening?"

"See? Recognizing the same DNA." Doctor said as Nancy fell away from the child onto the ground as the nanogenes disappear from sight. The Doctor rushed to them with Libby and Rose close behind. The Time Lord looked hopeful. "Oh, come one. Give a day like this. Give me this one."

He reached out to the gas mask and carefully remove it to reveal a perfectly healthy, ordinary, very sweet little boy underneath.

"Ha ha! Welcome back! Twenty years 'til pop music, you're going to love it." Doctor laughs ecstatically, lifting the boy up and swinging him around in the air.

"What happened?" Nancy asked in wonder.

"The nanogenes recognized the superior information, the parent DNA. They didn't change YOU because YOU changed them! Haha!" Jamie was plonked back onto the ground in front of Nancy. "Mother knows best!"

"Jamie…!"

A bomb lands nearby, bringing them all back to reality.

"Doctor, the bomb…" Said Rose.

"Taken care of it."

"How?"

"Wait…" Libby frowns for a moment, looking at the mother and son. "Did you use psychology on pretty boy while I spoke to Nancy?" A grin on his face was all she needed to know.

Above them, a bomb plummets towards them, almost spelling out doom… if it weren't for the fact that it was suddenly snatched out of the air by a blue forcefield. Jack seems to be hovering in the tunnel of light, sitting on the bomb.

"Doctor!" He called out.

"Good Lad!"

"The bomb's already commenced detonation. I've put it in stasis but it won't last long."

"Change of plan, don't need the bomb. Can you get rid of it? Safely as you can?"

"Rose?"

"Yeah?" Rose looked up at Jack.

"Goodbye."

Both him and the bomb disappears for a moment before reappearing. "By the way, love the t-shirt."

The two shared a grin as Rose pulled at her shirt and Jack disappeared again. His ship zoomed off into the night sky. The Doctor, on the other hand, stared intently at his hands, summoning the nanogenes.

"What are you doing?" Rose asked.

"Software patch. Gonna email the upgrade. You want moves, Rose? I'll give you moves." As he finished his thoughts, the Time Lord spun around and threw the reprogrammed nanogenes towards all the people, turning back into their normal selves. "Everybody lives! Just this once. Everybody Lives!"

The people, now restored looked at one another in confusion. None of them knew how they got there or what's going on. Practically buzzing with excitement, the Doctor bounded over to the human doctor from before.

"Doctor Constantine. Who never left his patients. Back on your feet, constant doctor!"

Libby laughs, appearing next to the leather clad alien. "World is not ready to lose you left, good doctor. Everyone here are you patients, all back to normal, maybe even better!"

Poor Constantine looked rather confused but decided to take it in stride. "Yes, yes… so it seems. They also seem to be standing around in a disused railway station. Is there any particular reason for that?"

Beaming, the Doctor merely bobbed his shoulders. "Yeah, well, you know… cutbacks. Listen, whatever was wrong with them in the past, you're probably gonna find that they're cured. Just tell them what a great doctor you are. Don't make a big thing of it. Okay?"

Together, the time travelers ran back to Rose, with the Doctor climbing on top of the Chula med-ship. "Right, you lot! Lots to do! Beat the Germans, save the world, don't forget the Welfare State!" As Constantine and his patients left the area, the Doctor bent down to the controls and speaks to Rose.

"Setting this to self-destruct, soon as everybody's clear. History says there was an explosion here. Who am I to are with history?"

"Usually the first in line." Rose joked, earning a grin.

* * *

Finally getting back to the TARDIS, the trio of travelers chatted away happily.

"The nanogenes will clean up the mess and switch themselves off because I just told them to." Doctor grinned. "Nancy and Jamie will go to Doctor Constantine for help, ditto, all in all, all things considered, fantastic!"

"Look at you, beaming away like you're Father Christmas!" Rose laughs.

"Who says I'm not, red-bicycle-when-you-were-twelve?"

"What?!" The blonde responded in a startled tone.

Libby was laughing, leaning against the railing.

"Don't think I forgot about you miss First-Edition-of-classic-literature." Doctor spun around, looking at his newest Companion with a sly grin. He ends up laughing when he saw the stunned look in the brunette's golden eyes. "And everybody lives, Rose, Libby! Everybody lives! I need more days like this."

"Doctor…" Rose said suddenly.

"Go on, ask me anything. I'm on FIRE!"

"What about Jack?"

The smile faded away as Doctor carried on working, obviously not really wanting to answer that.

"Why'd he say goodbye?"

"Fine…" He sighs, flipping some switches so the TARDIS could attach to the ship. A few more switches and button presses allowed the music to start playing, starting with Moonlight Serenade.

Rose went to the double doors and opened them up while Doctor pulled Libby into a shaky dance. Because the music could be heard once the doors opened, it caught Jack's attention mid-sip.

"Well, hurry up then!" She grinned, motioning him to hurry up and get into the time machine.

Once Jack made it through the doors, he looked around in surprise to see how big it all was, only for his gaze to stop on the Time Lord trying to dance with Libby.

"Come on Doctor!" Rose laughs. "You can do better than that! Try doing a turn with her, not just swaying!"

Of course, his attempt wasn't really successful as Libby ended up twisted and ultimately falling onto her bum.

"I'm SURE I used to know this stuff." He said, sounding frustrated as he helped Libby back up. "Close the door, will you? Your ship's about to blow up… there's gonna be a draft."

Once the doors are closed and the Doctor flip some switches, the engine started up, echoing in the room with it's famous grinding sound. "Welcome to the TARDIS."

"Much bigger on the inside…"

"You'd better be."

"I think what the Doctor's TRYING to say is… you may cut in." Rose said cheekily.

"Rose! I've just remembered!"

"What?"

It was then that the song, "In the Mood" began to blare out of the speakers, wherever they may be hidden. Lights began to flash around the room and the Doctor clicked his fingers in time with the music, towards Libby. "I can dance!"

"Well the," Rose laughs. "Show her your moves! I'm gonna dance with the Captain if you don't mind."

The Doctor complied, sweeping up the golden eyed woman into his arms, skillfully spinning her around the console, ending in a dip.

Libby herself laughs in the dip, looking up at the Doctor with a warm smile. "Were you hiding your true skills Time Lord?" She asked breathlessly.

"And what if I am? You have a problem with that?" He smirked, pulling her back up and continued their dance.

Libby didn't answer, choosing to instead enjoy the moment, laughing all the while.

On the other side of the console, Rose found herself smiling. Libby may have been a stranger when this adventure started but the blonde had a feeling that she'll stick around and become important to Rose. A sister perhaps? Well, just one way to find out right?

* * *

AN: Finally! Got this chapter done. This thing was a whopping 8k words, or just about by the time I got to here. Anyways, I hope you like how Libby is starting to turn out. I gotta say, it was a lot of fun seeing her to be immune to Jack's charms, instead choosing to sass him and taking charge with the blaster.

Next chapter is going to focus on her time in the TARDIS, focusing on some of her exploration and overall thoughts while things are calm. You'll even see a proper talk between her and the Doctor as well as her with Rose. We might even have a moment with her and Jack.

See you next time on… The Calm Before a Storm!


	4. The Calm Before a Storm

Last time on the Beginnings:

_"Well then," Rose laughs. "Show her your moves! I'm gonna dance with the Captain if you don't mind."_

_The Doctor complied, sweeping up the golden eyed woman into his arms, skillfully spinning her around the console, ending in a dip._

_Libby herself laughs in the dip, looking up at the Doctor with a warm smile. "Were you hiding your true skills Time Lord?" She asked breathlessly._

_"And what if I am? You have a problem with that?" He smirked, pulling her back up and continued their dance._

_Libby didn't answer, choosing to instead enjoy the moment, laughing all the while._

_On the other side of the console, Rose found herself smiling. Libby may have been a stranger when this adventure started but the blonde had a feeling that she'll stick around and become important to Rose. A sister perhaps? Well, just one way to find out right?_

* * *

AN: Quick note: when I do _"This"_ it means that there is a telepathic communication is occurring. I intend on the Doctor being able to understand the TARDIS and for the readers to see her side of the conversation. Libby won't be able to fully understand while she's still human. I'll put up reminders in the chapters that uses that as we go.

* * *

**Chapter 3 The Calm Before a Storm:**

Things had started to calm down after all the dancing, especially with the humans reaching the point of needing sleep. The TARDIS had obviously taken a liking to Libby, guiding the brunette woman to her brand new room. The room itself gave a sense of familiarity, with its TARDIS blue walls, large canopy bed complete with golden see through curtains and nightstands on both sides, and naturally, an entire wall filled with bookshelves. There's even a closet filled with all sorts of clothes that fits her preference. It looked strikingly similar to what the woman actually had back in her place on Earth.

"Wow... it looks gorgeous." Libby murmured, closing the door behind her and slowly made her way to the bed and sat on the edge. She took note of how comfortable the mattress felt, but even more importantly, the book on the nightstand. Humming, she picked up the book and read the cover, realizing that it's her favorite book of all time: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Laughing, the book is returned to the nightstand.

"I can't believe this ship has a room for me, or that it looks remarkably similar to what I had back home." She mused. Libby looked up when she heard soft humming in the back of her mind. "Well, thank you Beautiful. I really do love what you've made for me." She said as she patted the wall closest to her gently.

Another hum of pleasure and gentle flickering of lights came in response. "Yes, yes, I'll get some rest. But once I'm up again, mind showing me where the library is? I would very much love to have a place I could relax in whenever I need it."

Once she got the final confirmation, the woman decided to get some rest while she could. Smiling to herself, Libby stretched on the bed and fell asleep quickly.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the console room, the Doctor went about tinkering with the engine as he mused about the newest companion, Elizabeth Woods. She was quite the enigma, having appeared suddenly just before they ended up in 1941. She was obviously observant, considering some of the things she picked up before even he did. There was a sense of a connection between them but if felt... like it was incomplete, like something was blocking it.

"Elizabeth Woods... I'm going to understand you." He mumbled to himself as he whacked the console with a hammer, getting a shock in return.

"Ow! What was that for?"

 _"What do you think? Stop hitting me with that_ _ridiculous hammer of yours!"_

The Doctor grumbled something under his breath, shaking his head. Deciding not to anger the ship further, he looked up at the glowing pillar. "So do you know who our new friend is?"

 _"Of course!"_ The TARDIS said simply.

"Well? What is it then? Who is she and why is she so important?"

_"I can't tell you, my Thief. This is something you need to figure out for yourself. But I promise you, you'll understand why and thank me someday."_

The Doctor huffed in annoyance. He knew he wasn't going to get much more from the sentient ship, no matter what he tries. "Fine... But tell me this, is she really that important? To me?"

_"... Yes she is. She's more important to you than anything in the entirity of Time and Space. Now please stop asking, I refuse to tell you more than that."_

The Time Lord begrudgingly agreed, going back to tinkering to pass the time.

* * *

After god knows how long, Libby finally woke up again. With a yawn, she made her way towards the closet to change into some clean clothes. After scanning through a large chunk of her options, a pair of black slacks combined with a white blouse and a maroon waterfall cardigan reaching down mid-thigh and black boots were chosen. Something about each article of clothing called out to her and the feeling had gotten stronger when all of it could be seen together.

"Hm... looks pretty good if I do say so myself." Libby smiles to herself, admiring how it all came together in the mirror.

The TARDIS chirps and flashes some lights, catching the brunette's attention.

"Why thank you dear. You seem to know my tastes in clothing." Her golden eyes trailed upwards towards the ceiling, sparkling with amusement. "I must say, there's quite the selection here."

More chirps.

Soft laughs filled the air as Libby made her way toward the door. "Well, I must be off to find that library Doctor mentioned. Maybe even go find Rose and have some girl time. I could use some friends."

With that said, she made her way out into the hallway and started walking. To be frank, Libby wasn't really paying much attention where she was going, her body going on autopilot while the woman herself thought over what had happen from her sudden appearance on the TARDIS to now.

The strange curly haired woman, the even stranger ring glittering away on her finger, this wonderful sentient ship, the nanogenes. So much happened in a short amount of time, it's hard to believe it's all real.

"I wonder... who was that woman?" Libby mused to herself, tapping her cheek as she walked. "She must've known who I am, if that letter she gave me is any indication. It was from me at some point in the future, but when? Who is she to me?"

"Who are you talking about Libby?"

Libby snapped out of her thoughts as she spun around to see a smiling Rose.

"Oh! Rosie! You scared me!" Libby said, putting a hand on her chest as she willed her heart to calm down.

"Rosie? Hm... I like that nickname. Anyways, what were you talking about? You were talking out loud just now."

Libby blushed in embarrassment, not having intended to say that out loud for anyone to overhear. "I... to be honest, I'm not even sure myself." She bit her lip, considering if she should just tell Rose. "Alright, I can tell you more but can we do this in the privacy of the library? I rather not have pretty boy or the Doctor overhear this right now."

Rose nodded, curling her arm around Libby's and took the lead. "Sure, I'll take you there myself. I'll even ask the TARDIS for a spot of tea and we can talk with that."

* * *

Libby took in the calming scent of her earl grey tea, gently rolling the mug in her hands. Her eyes lifted up from the steaming liquid to take in the seemingly limitless library. She already felt at home there, surrounded by the shelves and shelves of books.

"So, this person you were mumbling about earlier?"

The brunette sighed, sipping her tea."To be honest? I'm not even sure. She never gave me her name. However... how she looks? That I remember. Expressive green eyes and wild curly blonde hair."

"Oh? She sounds quite interesting based on that alone."

"Mm... perhaps. But the meeting was brief. She did leave me with a letter and a ring." She dug out the letter from her pocket, having put it there when getting dressed, and handed it over to Rose.

The blonde teen was quiet for a minute as she read over the words, eventually setting it down on the coffee table. "Wow... It doesn't answer much about the woman herself but I bet it was weird to receive a letter from yourself. And you mentioned something about a ring?"

Libby held up up the hand with the time ring fitting snugly on her finger. "Yeah, I put it on and I suddenly black out. Probably shouldn't have put something on that I wouldn't have seen before or wasn't mine."

Rose laughs. "Probably not but hey, think of it this way, now you get to explore the wonders of the Universe with me and the Doctor like the letter said."

Libby smiled a bit. The blonde was right, this could be the chance to experience something new. As much as she loved working in the library and she really did, perhaps it's time to follow into the depths of the unknown with the Doctor and his wonderful TARDIS.

"I guess you're right. I'll admit, despite how terrified I was while we were in 1941, helping Nancy reunite with her son and save the human race from eradication felt really good. Does the Doctor do this everywhere he goes?"

"Somewhat. Trouble follows that man wherever he goes. We could pop by for a visit somewhere, intending for a break... only for trouble to appear and we find ourselves running for our lives." Rose snorts, shooting the woman her signature smile.

"Oh dear." Libby laughs. "Then I probably should make sure I don't wear heels, or if I have to, pack a set of flats just in case."

"Good idea Libby!" Rose chuckles, leaning back in her seat with her mug in hand.

Smiling, Libby took a long drink of her tea, sighing out in relief. "Well anyway... why don't we enjoy something together for a bit? I doubt you hold the same interest in books as I do. Maybe a movie or something?"

Rose perked at that. "Oh! That sounds like a lot of fun! There's actually a screen further in here, great for some movie watching so you can unwind after an adventure."

"Well? Then take me there and we can watch something before we check on the daft alien is up to."

Rose didn't need another invitation, immediately taking Libby to the aforementioned spot and popping in a film.

* * *

The ladies later appeared in the console room, laughing about something.

The Doctor popped his head from under the engine, turning his blue eyes towards the other two.

"Hello!" He greeted with a grin, climbing out of the hole and wiped his hands clean of oil with a rag."Good to see you two up and about!"

Libby smiles sweetly. "Hello Doctor. I see you've been busy. Been here all this time?"

The Time Lord nods, pressing buttons and flipping levers around the console. "Had to keep busy while you humans slept."

"What? You telling me that you don't sleep?" She asked, raising a brow.

"Certainly seems like it." Rose muttered.

The Doctor scoffed, pretending to look outrageously offended. "Excuse me! I do get some sleep! Just... not as often."

"Oh?" Libby hums nonchalantly, studying her nails, eyes flicking up to meet his. "How often then?"

"..." The Doctor found himself drawn into how otherworldly those eyes he is. He couldn't explain why but there was something special about those eyes, about Elizabeth Woods. Now, more than ever, he wanted to find out the mystery of the woman. "Every couple of weeks or so. Don't need to sleep for long before I'm recharged, so to speak."

Libby shook her head. "Well, no matter... Just try not to overwork yourself, okay? Don't need you keeling over because of your stubbornness."

The lights flicker as the engine warbles, eerily sounding like laughter.

The Doctor glared up towards the ceiling. "Oh hush you!"

Libby and Rose shared a snicker, grinning at each other. "What's the matter? Don't like us ladies ganging up on you?"

He simply responded with a pout, crossing his arms over his chest. This just made him look like a child rather than the nine hundred year old alien he is.

Snickering again, she walked towards the Time Lord and patted his cheek. "Don't pout, it doesn't do for a man who saves the universe on a daily basis... No matter how cute you are."

This stunned him. Cute? He was cute to Libby? After a moment, he shook his head. "Anyways! We're going to need to make a stop to Cardiff to recharge the TARDIS."

"Recharge her? How?" Libby asked, furrowing her brows a bit in confusion.

"Oh! That's easy enough, there's a rift within the city that exudes energy after a certain event. Despite it being closed, it's now like a scar leaking out the kind of energy that the TARDIS can use to refuel." The Doctor explained, flipping a switch as the grinding noise came to life. "Have to do it periodically to keep up the traveling life style."

"Huh... okay." Libby said thoughtfully as Jack Harkness finally joined with the rest of them.

"Hello beautiful people! You all look absolutely stunning on this fine day in the Time Vortex!" The flirtatious man grinned, kissing Rose's cheek and tapping the Time Lord's bum. When Jack made an attempt to make a move on Libby, he suddenly found himself on his back with the wind knocked out of him.

Libby had effectively threw Jack over her shoulder, glaring down at him. During that action, she didn't notice her watch slipping out of her top for all to see clearly. "I suggest you keep your hands off me pretty boy. It may be a common thing for you in the fifty first century to invade other people's space in your greetings but I. Don't. Like. To. Be. Touched." She growled at him, narrowing her eyes dangerously. "Do not try that again, do I make myself clear?"

Jack gulped audibly, frantically nodding him head. "Crystal... Sorry about that." He said, slowly as he rose to his feet.

Pleased with herself, she jerked her head once before noticing the looks both Rose and the Doctor were giving her. "What? I don't like it when someone tries to come onto me."

Rose snorts. "Don't blame ya there."

The Doctor only shook his head. He'll have to remember to tread carefully with Libby. She definitely has quite the temper, one that he doesn't want to be on the other end, to see the full extent of it. It was then that he realized he saw something just moments earlier. Looking back over to Libby, who's speaking to Rose in hushed whispers, he saw it. A golden fob watch on a chain around her neck. It wouldn't have seem so strange if it weren't for the fact that it was covered in Circular Gallifreyan.

'No... It can't be...' He thought to himself as he began to realize what it could be. 'She's a... Time Lady. But how did this happen? I thought I was the only one left!'

The revelation hit him hard. One question about this woman was answered but now so many more cropped up. Now, more than ever, he's determined to solve the mystery of Elizabeth Woods.

Hm... Something to work out later. Now's the time to land the ship and take care of a few things on Earth.

* * *

AN: So this chapter is a shorter one compared to the last couple ones. To be honest, I had considered holding off on the Doctor beginning to learn the truth about Libby for a little bit later but I changed my mind. Really, I originally planned for the reveal to happen much, much later... particularly during Martha's era. But I can't wait that long for the Time Lady to appear, so I'm moving up the plans for that to much sooner. You might be able to guess which adventure it ends up being, you might now. The important thing is, you'll learn about what her title is and her true name soon enough.

Now I need to say this now before any assumptions are made, Libby has not, nor she ever been a fighter or a soldier. I won't get into it here as I do have a plan to reveal why she's able to even throw someone over her shoulder like a rag doll. I promise, it will get really interesting once Libby returns to her true self and is allowed to show what she's truly made of.

See you next time in... Boom Town!


	5. Chapter 4: Boom Town

Last time on The Beginnings:

_The Doctor only shook his head. He'll have to remember to tread carefully with Libby. She definitely has quite the temper, one that he doesn't want to be on the other end, to see the full extent of it. It was then that he realized he saw something just moments earlier. Looking back over to Libby, who's speaking to Rose in hushed whispers, he saw it. A golden fob watch on a chain around her neck. It wouldn't have seem so strange if it weren't for the fact that it was covered in Circular Gallifreyan._

_'No... It can't be...' He thought to himself as he began to realize what it could be. 'She's a... Time Lady. But how did this happen? I thought I was the only one left!'_

_The revelation hit him hard. One question about this woman was answered but now so many more cropped up. Now, more than ever, he's determined to solve the mystery of Elizabeth Woods._

_Hm... Something to work out later. Now's the time to land the ship and take care of a few things on Earth._

* * *

After hearing the grinding sound that could only mean one thing, Mickey made his way across the Millennium Centre Square, where the TARDIS is parked in front of a sculpture. He knocks on the door, it swinging open near immediately to reveal Jack as the one to answer the door.

"Who the hell are you?" Jack asked without hesitation.

Mickey scrunched up his nose in distaste of the man as he answered rudely. "What d'you mean, who the hell am I? Who the hell are you?"

"Captain Jack Harkness." The man waved off nonchalantly. "Whatever you're selling, we're not buying."

"Get out of my way!" Growled Mickey as he shoved past the stranger into the TARDIS.

"Don't tell me, this must be Mickey."

Inside the console room, the Doctor is high up in the gantries on a ladder. He appeared to be carrying out some maintenance work to the beloved ship with a red flashlight strapped to his forehead.

Rose is standing by the console, watching him work before turning to Libby.

"He looks like such a dork, doesn't he Libs?"

Libby snorted a soft laugh, attempting to hide her amused smile behind her sleeve covered hand. "Perhaps, but I think he's rather cute, even with the dorkiness factoring in."

The Doctor shot the chattering females a lot, struggling to hide the reddening ears. It was that point that "Here comes trouble! How're you doing, Rickey boy?"

"It's Mickey!" The young man huffed.

"Don't listen to him, he's winding you up." Rose laughed.

Rose and Mickey gave each other broad grins as they hugged one another in greeting.

"Oh! Mickey, you must meet my new friend, Elizabeth Woods but she prefers to be called Libby."

The golden eyed beauty smiled, sticking out her hand to the blonde's boyfriend and gave him a firm shake. "Nice to meet you Mickey Smith. I have heard much from Rosie about you."

"Good things I hope?"

"Oh yes, all good things. I couldn't get her to stop for a full hour. Trust me when I say, she cares deeply for you."

Mickey didn't quite seem to believe that, but chose not to comment. It's not the time for that. So instead, he turned his attention to the Doctor as the daft alien carry out the maintenance work on the TARDIS.

"Here comes trouble!" He said cheerily. "How're you doing, Ricky boy?"

Libby glowered at the Time Lord. "Doctor, stop being rude. You very well know his name is Mickey. Don't make me come up there and give your ear a hard pull. I doubt you'd like to be seen as a child being scolded."

Rose, Jack and Mickey all ended up laughing as the Doctor blushed, the said blush reaching the tips his large ears. Libby, on the other hand, looked both serious and smug at the response she got.

"Oh that's hilarious. Doc, she's got you there! Frankly, it's rather adorable how she seems to be able to handle your… prickly side. Why can't I get a gal like that?" Jack said once he was able to stop laughing long enough.

"Pretty boy, you'd better buy my a drink first." Libby snorts. "Though, then again… I doubt that I would make it that easy."

Jack pouted. "You, Miss Woods, are such hard work."

"But she's worth it." Doctor responded in place on the brunette, smirking slightly.

Rose shook her head and looked to Mickey. "Did you manage to find it?"

"There you go." Mickey handed over the passport to the blonde.

Rose grinned, showing off her passport to the Doctor and Libby. "I can go anywhere now!"

"I told you, you don't NEED a passport!"

"It's all very well going to Platform One and Justicia and the Glass Pyramid of San Kloon, but what if we end up in Brazil? I might need it. You see, I'm prepared for anything." Rose said, sticking out her tongue in a very mature like fashion.

Mickey frowns a bit. "Sounds like you're staying, then."

There was awkward silence filling the air. In an attempt to lighten up the suddenly heavy atmosphere, Libby spoke up.

"Hm… maybe I should get mine next chance we get. Couldn't exactly pack anything when I wound up here. I would love to get my collection back and put it on this beautiful ship."

Rose smirked a bit. "Libs, don't you have enough books? Especially with the TARDIS providing you so many options."

Libby looked offended, with her hand over her chest as she did a dramatic gasp. Though that effect was ruined with the amused look dancing in her eyes. "Rosie, Rosie, Rosie, I can never have enough books. Besides, my collection holds some… sentimental value. So I can't part with them. Doctor…" She looked over to the Time Lord. "Next chance we've got, can we stop at my flat? I would love to get a few things there."

The Doctor nodded, confirming that will be amongst the next things they could do before the next set of adventures.

One moment. Two. Three passed before Mickey spoke again. "So, what're you doing in Cardiff? And who the hell's Jumping Jack Flash?" Libby snorted in the background, otherwise ignored. "I mean, I don't mind you hanging out with Big Ears up there-"

"Oi!"

"And your new friend, Libby-"

"Why thank you Mickey."

"But this guy, I dunno… He's kinda…"

"Handsome?"

"More like cheesy."

"Early 21st Century slang… Is cheesy good or bad?"

"Pretty boy, clearly he means it as in a bad way." Libby answered instead, rolling her eyes. "And before you start, it's not the bad where it means the opposite."

Jack pouted at Libby, crossing his arms over his chest. "When can I finally get into your good graces Libby? You've sassed me the entire time we've known each other."

The Doctor made his way down the ladder with a frown. "Are you saying I'm not handsome?"

"Oh Doctor," Libby murmured, choosing to ignore Jack. She had her reasons to respond to Jack the way she does but she won't answer that now. So instead, she'll speak to the Doctor and assure him. "I think you're rather handsome in a roguishly kind of way." She pats his cheek, gaining a smile from the man.

"We just stopped off. We need to refuel." Rose started to explain to Mickey. "Thing is, Cardiff's got this rift running through the middle of the city. It's invisible, but it's like an earthquake fault between different dimensions-"

"The rift was healed back in 1869-"

"Thanks to a girl named Gwyneth, 'cos these creatures called the Gelth, they were using the rift as a gateway, but she saved the world and closed it."

"As I'm understanding this, closing a rift always leaves a scar…" Libby glanced at the Doctor to make sure she's getting it right, continuing on when he gave her a nod. "That scar generates energy, harmless to humanity-"

"But perfect for the TARDIS, so just park it here for a couple of days right on top of the scar and -"

"Open up the engines, soak up the radiation-"

"Like filling her up with petrol and off we go!"

"Into Time!"

"And Space!" All four laughed together as Rose and Libby high fives one another.

Of course, Mickey was staring at them in disbelief, shaking his head. "My god, have you seen yourselves? You all think you're so clever, don't you?"

"Yeah!" Rose and the Doctor chirped at the same time.

"Mmhm, but I don't know about the pretty boy over there. He's pretty daft."

"Ye- hey! That's rude!"

Libby simply laughed at Jack's offense, leaving the TARDIS first with the Doctor and Rose close behind.

Eventually the entire group got out of the ship, the doors closing behind them.

"Should take another twenty four hours, which means we've got time to kill." The Doctor said.

"That old lady's staring." Mickey pointed out, noticing the older woman nearby who is indeed staring.

"Probably wondering what five people could do inside a small wooden box…" Jack said suggestively, wiggling his eyebrows.

Libby scoffs, unabashedly tugging on his ear. "Get your mind out of the gutter Con man. Not everyone is going to assume the same way you do."

"Ow! Hey! Easy on the ear Elizabeth!" Jack protested, not realizing his mistake until it was too late and she tugged even harder.

Rose and the Doctor sniggered in the background. Mickey ended up being amused at their antics, a small smile peeking through.

"Wait! Er, the TARDIS, we can't just leave it. Doesn't it get noticed?"

Jack was pouting, wincing as he rubbed his sore ear. "Yeah, what's with the police box? Why does it look like this?"

"It's a cloaking device." Rose replied simply.

The Doctor on the other hand, went into more detail. "It's called a chameleon circuit. The TARDIS is meant to disguise itself wherever it lands, like is this was Ancient Rome, it'd be a statue on a plinth or something. But I landed in the 1960s, it disguised itself as a police box, and the circuit got stuck."

"So it copied a real thing? There actually was police boxes?" Mickey asked.

"Yeah, on street corners. Phone for help before they had radios and mobiles. If they arrested someone, they could shove them inside until help came. Like a little prison cell."

Jack leaned forward a bit. "Why don't you just fix the circuit?"  
"I like it! Don't you?"  
Libby smiled, crossing her arms over her chest. "Rosie and I love it. But Doctor… YOU broke the circuit, didn't you?"

The Doctor looked shocked for a moment before thoughtfully eyeing her. "What makes you say that Libby?"

"Simple enough, really… A intelligent man like you," Libby's smile grew at the alien preening himself from the praise whether he realized he's doing it or not. "Would be able to fix it anytime he wanted. You probably broke it early on because you love the shape so much and even more importantly, the words that follows… 'It's bigger on the inside'. Am I wrong?"

Rather than letting this go on for much longer, Mickey interrupted before there could be an answer. "But that's what I meant! There's no police boxes anymore, so doesn't it get noticed?"

"Ricky-" The Doctor grunted when he's elbowed. "Let me tell you something about the Human Race. You put a mysterious blue box slap bang in the middle of town and what do they do? Walk past it. Now stop your nagging, let's go and explore!"

The Doctor turned around as he grabbed Libby's hand, walking away. The other three follow.

"What's the plan?"

"I don't know! Cardiff. Early 21st Century. And the wind's coming from the… East. Trust me, safest place in the universe."

Libby laughed softly. "Oh really? With a danger magnet like you in town? I doubt the peace will remain during our pitstop."

* * *

The quintet are sitting at a table, chatting up a storm and exchanging stories. Jack has been going through a particularly exciting one of his own.

"I swear, six feet tall and with TUSKS-"

"You're lying through your teeth!" The Doctor huffed.

"I'd've gone bonkers! That's the word, bonkers!" Rose laughed.

"I mean, it turns out the white things are tusks and I mean TUSKS! And it's woken, and it's not happy-"

"How could you not even realize it was there?"

"And we're standing there, fifteen of us, NAKED-"

Libby squealed, covering her eyes. "Do NOT give me that image, thank you. I really don't want to picture anyone naked."  
Jack ignored her comment. "And I'm like, oh no, no, it's got nothing to do with me! And then it roars, and we are running. Oh my God, we are RUNNING! And Brakovitch falls, so I turn to him and I say-"  
"I knew we should've turned left!"

They all roared with laughter at this punchline, Libby herself included. While this was happening, the Doctor happened to notice a newspaper held by an aging man nearby and made his way over to get a closer look while the conversation continued. The smile had long since faded from his face. He pulled the paper out of the man's hands and looked at the front page.

The troubled look he wore caught Libby's attention, causing her to frown, quietly leaving her seat to see what's bothering him. "Doctor…?" She asked softly, lightly touching his shoulder with her hand as she peered over his shoulder.

"And I was having such a nice day." He sighed, showing the others the headline of the paper, complete with a picture of Margaret objecting to having her photo taken.

* * *

The group of five people ended up leaving where they were enjoying a nice meal, ending up needing to go to the town hall were Margaret presided as mayor. They made their way up the steps into the entrance hall as though they owned the place.

"According to intelligence, the target is the last surviving member of the Slitheen family, a criminal sect from the planet Raxacoricofallapatorious, masquerading as a human being, zipped inside a skin suit." Jack stated, wearing a slight disgusted look. "Okay, plan of attack, we assume a basic fifty seven/fifty six strategy, covering all available exits on the ground floor. Doctor and Libby, you go face-to-face, that'll designate Exit One. I'll cover Exit Two. Rose, you're Exit Three and Mickey Smith, you take Exit Four. Have you got that?"

Doctor wore a look of mild surprise, Rose did the best she could to understand what Jack was talking about and poor Mickey was just plain confused. Libby, on the other hand, didn't look all that impressed.

"Hey Pretty boy, who do you think is in charge?" She asked, raising a brow. "Don't you think you should've talk to the Doctor before assuming?"

Jack smirked, mock saluting the brunette before looking to the Time Lord with the smirk still there. "Sorry. Awaiting orders, sir."

The Doctor seemed amused, deepening his voice to fill it with authority. "Right, here's the Plan…" He paused, a slow grin appearing. "Like he said. It's a nice plan. Anything else?"

"Present arms." Jack grinned, sticking his tongue out at Libby and laughed slightly when he got the similarly mature response from her.

Each of them (with the exception of Libby) pull out a cell phone, looking at one another. All of them confirmed that they were ready.

"Speed dial?"  
Each phone beeped with a button press.

"Yup." Doctor responded.

"Ready" Rose chirped.

"Check." Mickey nodded."

With a lazy grin, Jack clicked his tongue. "See ya in hell."

The group splits up, heading in their respective directions, with Mickey hesitating for a moment before disappearing towards the left.

As the Doctor and Libby walked through the hallways in search of their target, the leather clad male decided to ask her some questions now that she's alone. "So… this may sound strange but…" He hesitated for a second. "Have you ever hear voices come from that watch of yours?"

Libby furrowed her brows in confusion, tilting her head to the side slightly. "I… how did you know?"

"Because that watch, I've seen it before. My people used watches like that when they need to lock away a part of themselves in order to hide from something or even SOMEONE."

Libby stopped, which in turn, led to the Time Lord stopping with her. The young woman looked rather confused, turning her golden gaze up to meet his blue one. It was as if she was searching for something, and perhaps she was.

"… Are you saying I'm like you or something? That the person I am now doesn't exist?" She asked. Libby didn't sound angry but she did sound… concerned.

The Doctor place his hands on her shoulders, staring into her eyes. "I do think you're like me, that you're a Time Lady. I don't know who but… I can say this for sure." A hand lifted from her slender shoulder to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. "Who you are now will still be there if you ever open the watch."  
"If I'm like you, then does that mean you won't be the last of your race? Assuming I somehow return to who I was." She bit her lip, looking decidedly uneasy as she suddenly found her shoes much more interesting. "… Do I have to open it right away?"

The Doctor felt a little guilty for hoping that she does open the watch when the time calls for it. Of course he wanted to have another Time Lord, to no longer be the last of his kind. But it wasn't fair to be expecting Libby to immediately give up her human identity when she's been like this for Rassilon knows how long.

"No… it doesn't work like that anyways. It'll only open when you are ready and choose to do it yourself." He assured her gently, curling his finger under her chin and made her meet his eyes again.

"But… wouldn't you want another of your people again?"

"Of course! But it wouldn't it be right for you to give this version you up, at least, not unless it was your choice, done at your pace. I think you'll know if and when it's time."

One moment. Two. Three passed before a small, watery smile peeked through, causing the Time Lord's twin hearts to momentarily speed up.

"Thanks." She whispered. "Um Doctor? Shouldn't we keep going? We're here to go after that Slitheen woman, right?"

Realizing he was still holding her chin, getting lost in her unique gaze, the Doctor released her and cleared his throat, looking away in an attempt to hide his blush. "Right, let's keep going."

The two of them strode over to the secretary that was sitting behind a desk right outside the mayor's office.

"Hello!" The Doctor greeted cheerily. "I've-" A grunt as an elbow dug into his gut. "I mean we've come to see the Lord Mayor."

The secretary looked up, raising a brow at the pair. "Have you got an appointment?"

"Nope, just an old friend passing by, bit of a surprise." The Doctor grinned. "Can't wait to see her face!"

"Well, she's just having a cup of tea."

"Just go in there, and tell her the Doctor and company would like to see her."

"Doctor who?"

Libby snorted into her hand, pointedly looking away to avoid the alien's amused gaze.

"Just the Doctor." He stated with a shake of his head. "Tell her exactly that. The Doctor."

The secretary sighed, standing up. "Hold on a tick…" She entered the office, leaving the pair to wait outside.

Libby and the Doctor exchanged looks when the sound of a teacup shattering could be heard behind the closed doors. Their gaze returned to the secretary as he reappeared with a flustered look through the smallest gap she could possibly make.

"The Lord Mayor says thank you for-" He cleared her throat nervously. "-for popping by…. She'd love to have a chat, but um…. She's up to her eyes in paperwork. Perhaps if you could make an appointment for next week…?"

The Doctor gave the man a look. "She's climbing out of the window, isn't she?"

"Yes, she is."

Wearing a smug look, the Time Lord pushed past him with Libby following close behind into the office. They rushed right to the open window, out to the balcony to see Margaret hop over the edge onto the scaffolding.

The Doctor pulled out the mobile and spoke into it. "Slitheen heading North."

"On my way." Rose responded, the sound of her feet pounding could be heard as she started to run.

"Over and out." Jack said, running towards the direction in question.

"Oh my God." Mickey sounded stunned.

The secretary rushed out onto the balcony and attempted to grapple with the Doctor. "Leave the Mayor alone!"

In the midst of the tussle, Libby got onto the scaffolding, determined to chase after the oversized woman. When Margaret made it to the ground, she took off her brooch, turning to make her escape… only for Rose to be running towards her from one direction, blocking off her exit that way. The Slitheen woman hissed angrily, pulling off an earring. She turned her head the other way, seeing Jack coming from another direction. Her eyes widened in shock, turning to run back the way she came only to see Libby in her way with the Doctor coming down the scaffolding.

"Margaret!" He called in a mocking singsong voice.

Unfortunately for the group, there was a fourth, open exit. Margaret bolted down it as fast as her legs could carry her, pulling off the second earring. Jack, Rose, Libby and the Doctor converge at one end together.

"Who was on Exit Four?!" Jack asked.

"That was Mickey!" Rose responded, eyes wide.

Mickey came to join the others as he panted, bending over when he stopped. "Here I am!"

"Mickey the idiot." The Doctor scowled.

Rose stared after the fleeing alien woman. "Oh, be fair… she's not exactly gonna outrun us, is she?"

With a smile to herself, Margaret clipped her brooch and earrings together, vanishing from sight.

"She's got a teleport!" Jack shouted. "That's cheating! Now we're NEVER gonna get her!"

Libby and Rose shared a smile of amusement.

"Oh, the Doctor's very good with teleports."  
Speaking of, the Doctor produced his favored sonic screwdriver, holding it in the air with a dopey grin lighting up his face, clicking the button once. Margaret reappeared closer than before, running right at them with that self satisfied smile still plastered on her face. When she realized what happened, the smile disappeared, grinding to a halt and quickly turned back around, pressing the button again. The disappearing, reappearing act repeated a couple more times before the Slitheen woman finally gave up when she ended right in front of the five person group, gasping for air and clearly exhausted.

During this whole thing, Libby was cracking up, holding her side as she fought to catch her breath. Watching the oversized alien woman trying and failing to escape was just too funny.

The Doctor chuckled, wearing his smug grin. "I could do this all day."

Margaret held her hands up in surrender. "This is persecution. Why can't you leave me alone? What did I ever do to you?"

"You tried to kill me and destroy this entire planet." He responded dryly.

"Apart from that." Margaret said dismissively.

* * *

They all entered the town hall exhibition room.

"So, you're a Slitheen, you're on Earth, you're trapped. Your family got killed but you teleport out, just in the nick of time. You have no means of escape. What do you do? You build a nuclear power station."

The Doctor gestured at the model in the middle of the room. Rose and Jack examined it with interest. Libby didn't, choosing to quietly study the woman that attempted to sell off chunks of the destroyed planet for a profit instead.

"But what for?"

"A philanthropic gesture. I've learnt the error of my ways."

"And it just so happens to be right on top of the rift."

"What rift that would be?"

"A rift in space and time. If this power station went into meltdown, the entire planet would go schwwwupboom!" Jack said, dramatically making the sound.

"This station is designed to explode the minute it reaches capacity." The Doctor added to what Jack just said as he studied the model.

"Didn't anyone notice? Isn't there someone in London CHECKING this sort of stuff?" Rose asked with a frown.

Margaret scoffed. "We're in CARDIFF. London doesn't care! The South Wales coast could fall into the sea and they wouldn't notice. Oh… I sound like a Welshman. God help me, I've gone native."

Libby frowned, narrowing her eyes. "… There was someone who was checking wasn't there?" She asked.

However, no one seemed to notice as Mickey spoke up in confusion. "But why would she DO that? A great big explosion, she'd only end up killing herself."

Margaret sneered at the human male, offended that her name isn't even being used. "She's got a name, you know."

"She's not even a she, she's a… thing."

"Mickey, that's rude." Libby huffed. "Either way, it's clear that she's clever."

The Doctor nodded in agreement as he forcibly pulled the middle portion section of the model off, flipping it over. This revealed a giant circuit board underneath.

"Fantastic."

"Is that a tribophysical waveform macro-kinetic extrapolator?!" Jack asked excitedly as he looked closer.

"Couldn't have put it better myself."

"Ooh, GENIUS! You didn't build this."

It was at that point that something caught the Time Lord's attention from a spot on the far wall. It was the poster for the project, bearing the words 'Blaidd Drwg'. He frowned, remembering how those two words seem to pop up quite a bit recently, ever since Rose became his companion.

"Bad Wolf? Odd choice for a name for a project." Libby murmured, standing next to the Doctor, causing him to jump ever so slightly in surprise.

He hadn't even realize anyone else noticed, much less her standing so close to him. He studied how Libby seemed to be lost in her thoughts, how her eyes seem to glaze over, and even how she played with the edge of her sleeves mindlessly. Of course, in the background, the others kept the conversation going, trying to find out where the technology came from and how Margaret intended to use it.

Shaking his head, he looked back at the poster and spoke towards Margaret. "How'd you think of the name?"

"What, Blaidd Drwg? It's Welsh." Margaret said with a shrug.

"I know, but how did you think of it?"

"Chose it at random, that's all I dunno. Just sounded good. Does it matter?"

"Blaidd Drwg." The Doctor turned around with his brow furrowed.

"What's it mean?"

"It means Bad Wolf, Rosie." Libby chimed in, slowly making her way over to the blonde.

Rose looked haunted for a moment, blinking. "But I've heard that before, Bad Wolf. I've heard that lots of times."

"Everywhere we go. Two words. Following us. Bad Wolf."

"How can they be following us?"

"You know… now that I think about it, I think I remember seeing those words shortly before I joined you guys. I didn't even think about it at the time but it showed up in the library." Libby said thoughtfully. At the time, she hadn't even realize it. It was just two words to her, it didn't mean anything. But after all that she's heard and experienced so far, it now seemed strange that those words keep popping up.

The Doctor's head snapped towards her, his brow furrowing further. After a moment, he shook his head.

"Nah! Just a coincidence! Like hearing a word on the radio then hearing it all day. Never mind! Things to do!" He briskly clapped his hands. "Margaret, we're gonna take you home."

"Hold on! Isn't that the easy option? Like letting her go?"

"I don't believe it! We actually get to go to Raxa…" Rose frowned as she tried to remember how it's pronounced. "Wait a minute! Raxacor…"

"Raxacoricofallapatorius."

"Raxacorio…"

"… fallapatorius."

"Raxacoricofallapatorius!" Rose took her time trying again, beaming when she finally managed to say the extremely long planet name.

The Doctor grinned when she finally got it. "That's it!"

"I did it!" She squealed, hugging Libby, who had returned it with an amused chuckle.

"That's quite a mouthful, huh Rosie? Good job getting it."

Unfortunately the positive mood evaporated when Margaret spoke. "They have the death penalty. The family Slitheen was tried in its absence many years ago and found guilty. With no chance of appeal. According to the statutes of government. The moment I return, I am going to be executed. What do you make of that, Doctor?" She met his cold stare head on. "Take me home and you take me to my death."

"Not my problem."

* * *

Now that darkness of the night has fallen, most of the group returned to the TARDIS. However, just before Libby went inside, she spotted a head of wild curly blonde hair. It was the woman from before! She had to speak to this woman, find out who she is and why she seemed to act as a messenger before all this began.

"Doctor…" She called to the Time Lord, staying at the doors of the ship. "I have something I need to do. Promise I'll be back as soon as possible."

The leather clad alien looked up, arching a brow towards her cryptic words. "Okay… Before you go, why don't you take this? That way we can call you and vice verse in case something happens." A phone soared through the air, landing in Libby's waiting hands.

"Thanks. Try not to get into too much trouble while I'm gone, okay… trouble magnet?" She laughed at his mock outrage, leaving the TARDIS with the phone tucked into the pocket of her maroon waterfall cardigan.

Searching for the mass of hair, Libby smiled when she spotted it nearby and hurried off.

"Wait!" She called out, running after the woman. It took several turns around corners of building before she caught up.

"Hello Darling." The woman spoke, with an amused smirk as she turned to face a panting brunette.

"Who… who are you?" Libby asked in between heavy breaths.

The woman chuckled, her eyes briefly flashing with something but it was gone too quickly for Libby to identify. "My name is River, River Song. I'm a… friend." She stuck her hand out.

Libby frowned for a moment, picking up the hesitation. Studying the strange woman, it took her a moment to decide that River was trustworthy. So she shook that hand.

"I'm getting the feeling you know who I am."

"Of course I do Darling. You're Elizabeth Woods, but we both know you prefer Libby." River replied, her smirk growing when she saw the scowl. "Don't worry, I know better than to call you by your first name over your chosen one. You would've had my ear if I did."

That got her to laugh. That's exactly what she would've done and did exactly that to Jack. "You… I like you River. Why don't we talk somewhere less dreary than an alleyway? I could use a cuppa."

* * *

The two of them ended up at a cafe nearby, each enjoy their drinks and whatever food that was ordered.

"So River, how do you know me? You say we are friends but you're a relatively new face to me."

River chuckled ruefully. "I'm afraid most of that are spoilers Libby. What I can say is this, we meet a bit out of order. Time travel can be a bit of a bitch sometimes."  
"Ah… So you're a time traveller like the Doctor?" A nod. "So by out of order, does that mean that whenever we meet, assuming this isn't the only time, the level we know of each other might not always be equal?"

"Exactly. Right now, there's things I know about you that you have yet experienced, things I cannot reveal to you unless the time is right. Those are the rules you set a long time ago for me."

Libby took a sip of her tea, staring into the cup thoughtfully. "So that means, that no matter when we meet, we cannot reveal anything of the other's future? How would we keep track?"

A brand new TARDIS blue journal was produced from… somewhere and placed on the table before Libby. "We kept journals, you and I. Write down the adventures we did together and each time we meet, we compare notes. Once we figure out where in the timeline each of us are, then it would be easier to keep track of what can be said and what is to stay secret for the time being."

Gently, the brunette picked up the journal and gingerly looked through the empty pages. It made sense, if they met out of order, this was a good way to keep track of the spoilers. Looking up from the book, Libby smiled.

"May I ask a question? If it's spoilers, you can tell me that's the case."

River considered it for a moment. "I suppose but I can't promise if I can answer it fully, if at all."

"Well… have you met this me before? Like perhaps in a library to deliver a message and a ring."

Silence.

"Libby… this is one of the very few times that you see me in order. Yes I did deliver you a message and a ring. You… a future you I mean, told me that once I gave you the note and ring, I would see you again shortly after your first adventure. That I was to give you that journal the second time we meet." River hesitated. "I can't say much more than that."

"No, no it's alright. I know I shouldn't push much more. As curious as I am, I think I rather find out what my future holds for me myself."

Libby didn't notice the look River wore, not when a low rumble followed by shattering of the glass around them caught her attention.

"What? What's going on?" She asked, seeing the people screaming whenever something breaks near them.

Knowing that their time comes to an end, River stood up with a sad look in her eyes. "Go… The Doctor's going to need you. The TARDIS needs you. We'll see each other again." And then she was gone.

Frowning, Libby tucked her journal away into her cardigan. Those parting words worried her, causing her to break out into a run towards the TARDIS.

* * *

By the time she made it back and see the state of the ship and the damage being caused, Libby was extremely worried. Coming inside, she found herself in the claws of the Slitheen alien just before Rose appeared.

"Libby!"

"One wrong move, Doctor, and she snaps like a promise." Margaret hissed threateningly, eyes roaming all that stood there and just missed the dark look passing over the Doctor's face.

Yikes.

"I might've known…" He said lowly, blue eyes narrowing dangerously at Margaret.

Margaret moved closer with Libby still in her grip. "I've had you bleating all night, poor baby. Now shut it." She looked to Jack. "You, fly boy, put the extrapolator at my feet."

When Jack hesitated to follow her order, her claws tightened their grip around Libby's throat, causing the young woman to begin to gasp for air. Jack looked to the Doctor for some help and winced, seeing the fury buried in the man's eyes. He saw the nod, finally doing what he was told and placed the extrapolator at Margaret's feet.

"Thank you. Just as I planned."

Libby placed her focus on getting any air she could get in the midst of her strangulation. Although, she was struggling as the blackness started to creep into her vision. The brunette didn't hear what was said next or see what happened from that point forward, as she ended up passing out from the lack of air.

* * *

The next time Libby woke up, it was all over. Her eyes snapped open and she took the biggest breath she could manage, sitting up suddenly.

"Easy there!" The Doctor said gently, pushing her back onto the bed. "You still need your rest."

When she passed out, the Time Lord had to move quickly to stop the Slitheen and save the Earth once again. The TARDIS even up lending a… "hand" so to speak. After dealing the newly reborn Margaret and sent her to a new family, the Doctor had to move quickly to save Libby before it was too late. He sat beside the bed the entire time she had been out, just waiting for her to wake.

"But… what about Margaret…?" Libby croaked, her throat feeling so sore and so dry.

"Try not to speak for now, alright." He murmured, his eyes softening at her concern. "The Slitheen has been taken care of. No," He cut off her protests. "She has not been killed. Blon, or as you knew, Margaret looked into the heart of the TARDIS and was given a second chance to grow up and change."

Heart of the TARDIS? Libby knew the ship was sentient so it made sense that she has a heart too, but how did that happen?

"Well it doesn't matter now. Blon had been returned to Raxacoricofallapatorius and we've just been floating in the Time Vortex. Rose and Jack had been worried about you." He smiled. "Would you like to see either of them?"

Libby thought about it for a moment before shaking her head. "Too tired… maybe later." When the Doctor move to stand, she stopped him by grabbing his wrist and pulled him down onto the bed with surprising strength. "Stay… please."

His blue eyes widened with surprise as he ended up onto the bed next to Libby. He found himself even more shocked, causing him to stiffen somewhat, when the golden eyed woman snuggled into his chest.

She was lulled back into a slumber through the sound of his twin hearts beating in her ears.

The Doctor sighed, considering on getting out of the bed but considering the grip she had on his jumper, he wasn't going to get away cleanly. "Oh Libby Woods…" He whispered. "Who could you be? I hope to find out soon. Sleep well…" With that, the Doctor stayed there for Rassilon knows how long, ignoring the amused and teasing sounds the TARDIS was giving him.

* * *

AN: Finally done with this! I have to admit, I found it tough to write the chapter as I didn't care for this episode. Only part that was honestly pretty funny was the scene with Blon running away from the group only to be teleported back several times. Either way, I'm very thankful that I finished this chapter and got it out to you guys!

Now if any of you had guessed who it was that delivered the note back in the prologue, yes it was River Song! Of course I won't yet reveal the extent of her relationship with Libby or even the Doctor. I just figured it'd be fun if Libby had a chance to build a relationship with River before the Doctor's first introduction. Anyways, as you can see, just as she calls our lovable Time Lord "Sweetie", Libby gets the title of "Darling".

Now I do have a question for you all… have any of you have figured out what Libby's Time Lady title is yet? If you have, let me know in a review!

I do intend on her opening her watch very soon, within the next couple of chapters even so you won't have to wait for much longer to find out.

See you next time in… Bad Wolf!


	6. Chapter 5 Bad Wolf

AN: As there is a brief flashback, I will be using italics and underline for the entire duration of of the flashback. If it's just italics, then it's a mental conversation (only exception is in the Last Time section).

* * *

Last time on The Beginnings:

_Libby thought about it for a moment before shaking her head. "Too tired… maybe later." When the Doctor move to stand, she stopped him by grabbing his wrist and pulled him down onto the bed with surprising strength. "Stay… please."_

_His blue eyes widened with surprise as he ended up onto the bed next to Libby. He found himself even more shocked, causing him to stiffen somewhat, when the golden eyed woman snuggled into his chest._

_She was lulled back into a slumber through the sound of his twin hearts beating in her ears._

_The Doctor sighed, considering on getting out of the bed but considering the grip she had on his jumper, he wasn't going to get away cleanly. "Oh Libby Woods…" He whispered. "Who could you be? I hope to find out soon. Sleep well…" With that, the Doctor stayed there for Rassilon knows how long, ignoring the amused and teasing sounds the TARDIS was giving him._

* * *

The Doctor found himself crouched inside what appeared to be a small cupboard. He leapt up to his feet when the tiny enclosure started spinning, feeling along the walls.

"What is it? What's happening?"

Suddenly he fell flat on his face on the floor. The Doctor went from the tiny enclosed space to a brightly colored room with drawings on the wall.

"Oh my God!" A woman in her 30s shouted, hurrying over to the man. "I don't BELIEVE it! Why'd they put you in there? They never said you were coming!"

The Time Lord attempted to pull himself up, feeling incredibly disorientated after what just happened.

"But what happened? I was…" He groaned, being helped up onto his feet thanks to the woman.

"Careful now… oh!" She grunts, losing grip on him as he fell onto his face once again. "Oh! Mind yourself! Oh, that's the transmat. Scrambles your head, I was sick for days."

When the Doctor attempted to stand again, the woman aided him. "You all right?"

He grunts, finally managing to stabilize himself and lose much of his disorientation.

"So! What's your name then, sweetheart?"

"The Doctor, I think. I was er… I don't know, what happened? How-"

"You got chosen." She grinned, acting as if that explained it all.

"Chosen for what?" He asked, furrowing his brow.

"You're a housemate. You're in the house! Isn't that brilliant?!" She laughed, clearly finding this situation as something to be excited about.

"That's not fair." Groaned a young man from a purple couch in front of a television, which had a familiar eye logo on the screen. "We've got eviction in five minutes! I've been here for all nine weeks, I've followed the rules, I haven't had a single warns and then he comes swanning in!" He gestured to the confused Doctor, obviously peeved at the notion of a new houseguest.

"If they keep change the rules, I'm gonna protest, I am. You just watch me, I'm… I'm gonna paint the walls." Said the other woman on the couch next to the man.

The Doctor looked around the House, his brow deeply furrowed, entirely bemused at it all. A camera on the ceiling gradually turned slowly from it's fixed spot. Big Brother's voice rings out over the theme music.

"Would the Doctor please come to the Diary Room?"

He looked up towards the ceiling to try to find the origin of the voice, only to turn around at the buzzing sound behind him. A silver door with an illuminated eye on the side awaited him to go inside. This was exactly what he does, heading into the room the door led to. Inside the Diary Room, the Doctor plonked himself down in the bright red chair.

"You are live on channel forty four thousand. Please do not swear."

"You have GOT to be kidding."

* * *

Libby groaned softly as she came to. She's inside the darkened TARDIS, all alone. Sitting up from the floor, the brunette rubbed her aching head as her eyes scanned around the console room.

"Ow… my head." She grumbled as she gripped the railing and hauled herself to her feet. "Doctor? Rosie? Jack?"

There was no response from any of the three Libby had hoped to hear from. With a wince, she rubbed her head again and wobbled to the console. The TARDIS hummed gently in the female's head, as if asking if she was okay.

"I'm okay… I think." She considered it for a moment. "Well, I'll be okay ultimately. But right now, I need to figure out what happened and where everyone is. Is it possible for you to scan for the others?"

A disconcerted sound echoed in the room as lights flickered overhead.

"No?" Libby asked with a frown. "Is something working against you darling?"

A single hum.

Furrowing her brow, she gently touched the controls. "In that case, I might as well try to venture out and find them myself. Tell me darling, is it safe enough for me to step out now?"

There was hesitation before another hum answered her, followed by the wave of concern.

"Hey…" The golden eyed woman cooed, gently patting the console. "I'll be okay. You and the Doctor made sure I healed from what happened before. I'll do whatever I need to do to protect myself, even if it means hiding."

For a moment, it almost seemed like the sentient ship sighed. Soft whirring could be heard before something popped out of a compartment nearby where she stood. Inside, there was an item that looked a lot like a wand that could possibly be found in the world of Harry Potter. However, the wand has a golden metallic color with a lavender tip that could light up with a press of a button.

"What's this? Is this for me?" As soon as she asked that, some knowledge suddenly filled her mind, informing her that the item in her hand is a sonic wand. As the knowledge filled her mind, the watch began to warm up as a voice began to whisper.

'"Soon it'll be time to make a choice… Do not let yourself stand in the way of what must be done."'

As quickly as the voice spoke, it faded away, leaving Libby with more of a headache.

"A choice? What choice?" Well… it doesn't even matter at this point. What does matter right now, is finding the Doctor and the others. Looking up at the pillar. "TARDIS darling, is there any danger outside those doors right now?"

The sentient ship seemed to hesitate, before there was a hum that confirmed there was no danger at this time.

Libby smiled softly at the concern of the ship. "Don't worry Darling, I'll be okay. You've given me this beautiful sonic wand and I'm able to run if needed." She said in a gentle voice as she grabbed her new tool.

Before leaving the ship, the golden eyed woman fixed her hair into a bun and slid the wand in place. She'll have to get a proper holster for it later but right now, her friends need to be found. Satisfied that everything is in place, she made her way to the doors and slowly pushed the doors opened and poked her head out.

* * *

The Doctor stood at a door, pressing the button on his sonic screwdriver in an attempt to open it. He grumbles when the soft buzzing sound ended. "I can't open it."

"It's got a deadlock seal. Ever since Big Brother Five Hundred and Four when they all walked out…?" The first woman the Doctor interacted with stated.

There was no response to that, not when the Doctor was swiftly walking to the other side of the room to search for other possible exits.

"You MUST remember that."

"What about this?" The leather clad alien asked, motioning to the mirror.

"Oh, that's exoglass. You'd need a nuclear bomb to get through."

He grunted, buzzing his sonic around the edges. "Don't tempt me."

The woman leaned on the wall next to him, as though there was something she wanted to say. "I know you're not supposed to talk about the outside world, but you must've been watch. Do people like me? Lynda with a Y, not Linda with an I… she got forcibly evicted because she damaged the camera."

The Doctor flashed Lynda with a grin that didn't really express a whole lot of interest, if at all, but he nodded anyways.

"Am I popular?"

"I don't remember."

"Oh, but does that mean I'm nothing? Some people get this far just 'cos they're insignificant. Doesn't anybody notice me?"

That got him to pause and look at Lynda entirely, wearing a look of pity. "No… you're… you're nice. You're sweet. Everybody thinks you're sweet."

"Oh!" She gasped, flattered. "Is that right? Is that what I am?" It was clear that she felt rather pleased with that statement. "Oh, no one's ever told me that before. Am I sweet? Really?"

"Yeah. Dead sweet!"

"Thank you!"

The Doctor looked towards the supposed window that looked solid black. "It's just a wall, isn't there supposed to be a garden out there?" He asked as he walked to it with Lynda following behind him.

"Don't be daft. No one's got a garden anymore. Who's got a garden?" After a moment, the young woman gasped. "Don't tell me YOU'VE got a garden!"

"No, I've just got the TARDIS…" He trailed off, his eyes growing widen as he suddenly looked like he's been struck by inspiration. "I remember."

"That's the amnesia! So what happened? Where did they get you?"

"We'd just left Raxacoriofallapatroius and floated in the Vortex for a bit to let…" He shook his head with a grimace. "Then we went to Kyoto, that's right. Japan in 1336, and we only just escaped…"

* * *

_The Doctor, Libby, Rose and Jack laughed together in the TARDIS. Libby was sitting on the captain's chair as she was teasing the Doctor about something that happened during their trip to Japan. The Doctor tried to retort about something else that happened, standing rather close to the female._

_Ever since what happened when dealing with Blon, the Time Lord felt more protective than he ever thought possible over her. Sure, Libby is a Time Lady, though the watch isn't open yet, but how he felt about her… there was something more to it. A connection that ran much deeper than either would realize at this point._

"We were together, we were laughing. Libby was teasing me about… certain things and I was returned the favor. And then… there was this light…"

_Suddenly there was a bright light shining through the walls of the TARDIS. Bewilder and scared, Rose tried to reach out to either of her friends as three of the four was sucked through the light._

"This white light coming through the walls, and then…"

* * *

"And then I woke up here."

"Yeah, that's the transmat beam. That's how they pick the housemates."

The Doctor sighs, shaking his head. "Oh, Lynda with a Y… sweet little Lynda…" He walked a few paces in the room. "It's worse than that, much worse. I'm not just a passing traveller. No stupid little transmat gets inside my ship. That beam was fifteen million times more powerful, which means… this isn't just a game. There's something else going on." He stepped closer to the camera. "Well! Here's the latest update from the Big Brother house. I'm getting out." Looking straight into the camera with a dark look in his blue eyes. "I'm gonna find my friends. And then, I'm gonna find YOU." The Doctor placed his finger on the camera lens threatening.

* * *

The area outside the safety of the TARDIS didn't look familiar. It was a brightly lit room, almost reminding Libby of a sterile hospital room but without the furniture. She grimaced a bit, squinting as she allowed her vision to readjust the difference in the lighting. Slowly, she snuck towards the door and managed to open it with very little sound. She peered inside to see several people on computers as well as a woman hooked up a ton of wires. It was quite a strange sight to see, even a bit unsettling to see a human being (well what's left of one) hooked up like they're nothing more than another piece of machinery.

"What the hell?" She muttered under her breath, gripping the fabric of her cardigan. She tensed when she heard something like the Doctor's voice but couldn't see the Time Lord anywhere. Rather, the voice was coming from one of the monitors.

During the proceedings that was going on in the Big Brother show, there was a programmer watching with another at one of the computers. They were chatting about what was happening between a couple of different shows.

When there was an opportunity to slip into the lift without the wrong sort noticing, Libby took it. She hurried into the lift and turned around to close the doors and get to another floor.

When Libby faced where the wire girl was hanging a froze as it almost seemed that she was being stared at. But that didn't seem right, those eyes were unseeing, unfocused on their general surroundings.

The girl almost seemed to mouth, "Hurry" to Libby as the doors closed, much to the brunette's confusion.

* * *

Lynda and the other two houseguests had gathered at the sofa in front of the TV. The sweet blonde looked to the Doctor from where she sat.

"Doctor, they said ALL the housemates must gather on the sofa. You've got to."

"Busy getting out, thanks." He grunted, standing at the door with his sonic in hand and whirring away. "I have someone I must find and make sure she's okay. Two friends and…" He trailed off, not even sure what his relationship with Libby is yet. It's complicated, considering that she hasn't open the watch yet. They're definitely friends at the very least but there was something more between them. Something just waiting to click in place.

"But if you don't obey, then ALL the housemates gets punished."

He grumbled, grudgingly accepting that as he joined them on the sofa with his sonic being turned off. "Well maybe I'll be voted out, then."

"How stupid are you? You've only just joined, you're not eligible." Sneered the man, shaking his head.

"Don't try anything clever or we all get it in the neck." Lynda warned.

"Big Brother House, this is Davina Droid." The trio of houseguests grabbed one another's hands, with the other female clinging onto the Doctor's. "Crosbie, Lynda and Strood, you have all been nominated for eviction."

Tension filled the air.

"And the eighth person to be evicted from the Big Brother House is… Crosbie!"

The other woman, Crosbie, gasped as the other two are giving her hugs and trying to comfort her for what was about to happen.

"I'm sorry! Oh, I'm sorry! Sorry!"

"Oh, it should've been me, that's not fair…" Strood said softly as he put an arm around her. "Oh, Crosbie love…"

The Doctor leaned back in the sofa, watching this unfold with his hands behind his head.

"Crosbie, you have ten seconds to make your farewells, and then we're gonna get you!"  
That got the three, minus the Doctor as he didn't bother, to leap to their feet. They rushed to the door as quickly as possible.

"I won't forget you." Lynda said softly.

"I'm sorry I stole your soap." Crosbie sniffled.

"Oh, I don't mind, honestly." The two women shared a hug.

"Thanks for the food, you're a smashing cook." Strood told the evicted houseguest, leaving her with a kiss on the cheek and a hug. "Bless you."

The doors slide open ominously, revealing a small and narrow, gleaming white room with a door at the other end.

"Crosbie, please leave the Big Brother House."

"Bye then…" Crosbie said fearfully, looking at each of them and shot the room an apprehensive look. "Bye Lynda…"

"Bye…"

Lynda and Strood caught each other's eye and make an archway with their arms. Crosbie walked underneath. The Doctor couldn't believe what he was seeing from where he sat on the sofa. Lynda and Strood wave to the woman, receiving a wave back until the doors slide to a close.

"I don't believe it." Lynda sniffles, getting rather close to tears. "Poor Crosbie…"

"It's only a game show, she'll make a fortune on the outside! Sell her story, release a record, fitness video, all of that… she'll be laughing!" The Doctor said from the sofa.

"What d'you mean, 'on the outside'?" Lynda asked, staring at the Time Lord.  
On the TV, it shows that Crosbie standing in middle of the stark white room, trembling in fear.

"Here we go…"

The two remaining houseguests hurried back to the couch to perch on the edge nervously. The Doctor was rather confused but sighed, relaxing back again. Several tense moments of watching the evicted stand in the room, waiting for something to happen.

"Well, what are they waiting for? Why don't they just let her go?"

Lynda was tearful, clutching her hands together. "Stop it, it's not funny."

"Eviction in… 5… 4… 3… 2… 1!"

There suddenly was a bolt of light, seemingly disintegrated poor Crosbie. The tension in the air was released as Strood and Lynda both stare at the screen with an identical distraught look on their faces. The Doctor himself stared at the screen, confused yet tensed. He didn't like what he just saw, that bolt rubbed him the wrong way. Not that he knew why just yet.

"What was that?"

"Disintegrator beam."  
"She's been evicted… from life."

The Doctor was tense again, beginning to pace around the Big Brother House.

"Are you INSANE? You just step right into the disintegrator? Is it that important, getting your face on the telly? Is it worth DYING for?"

Lynda stood up, shouting. "You're talking like we've got a choice!"  
"But I thought you had to apply!"  
"Don't be so stupid." Strood snorted. "That's how they played it centuries back."

"You get chosen whether you like it or not!" Lynda was getting frustrated. "Everyone on Earth is a potential contestant. The translate beam picks you out at random. And it's non-stop. There are sixty Big Brother houses running all at one."

"How many?" The Doctor asked, shocked. "SIXTY?"

"They've had to cut back. It's not what it was."

"It's a CHARNEL house! What about the winners? What do they get?"  
"They get to live."

"Is that it?!"

"Well, isn't that enough?!"

That got him to momentarily stop and stare at Lynda. After a rather long moment, he strode across the room. "Rose is out there. She got caught in the transmat. She's a contestant. But Libby… did she get pulled in too?" Out of the four that had been in the ship at the time, Libby was the only one who he wasn't sure if she got pulled into a game show like the rest of them. That alone was unnerving but he needed to get out now. "Time I got out. That other contestant, Linda with an I, she was forcibly evicted for what?"

"Damaged property…"

"What, like this?" He asked, mock innocently as he pointed his favored sonic directly at the camera and destroyed it.

"The Doctor, you've broken the House Rules. Big Brother has no choice but to evict you."

The Doctor smirked, raising his hand in triumph.

"You have ten second to make your farewells, and then we're gonna get you!"

"That's more like it!" He laughed with a grin. "Come on then, open up!"

Lynda rushed after him, panicked. "You're mad! It's like you WANT to die!"

"I reckon he's a plant! He was only brought in to stir things up!" Strood pointed out.

The doors slide open, giving the Doctor an opportunity to run inside the room beyond.

"The Doctor, please leave the Big Brother House."

Strood rushed back to the sofa and planted himself there to watch what will happen to the Time Lord. Lynda on the other hand, stayed at the door, sliding with it as it shuts to a close so she could see him as long as possible. When he was out of her line of sight, her eyes turned to the TV to watch.

"Come on then, disintegrate me! Come on, what're you waiting for?" The Doctor shouted, looking up at the device in the ceiling above him.

"He is, he's mad. He's bonkers."

"Disintegrate me!"

"Eviction in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…"

… Nothing happened. No beam of light to "disintegrate" the Doctor. Nothing.

"Haha!" He laughed, wearing a smug grin. He had known that he wasn't going to be taken out, not when someone would've likely needed him. What? He didn't know yet. "I knew it! You see? Someone BROUGHT me into this game. If they'd wanted me dead, they could've transmatted me into a volcano." He smirked, standing at the door with his sonic in hand. "The want me alive, maybe the security isn't as tight at this end. Are you following this? I'm getting out!"

* * *

Suddenly the door Libby found herself at after exiting the lift opened to reveal the Doctor. She had been using her sonic wand the same time he was using his screwdriver, making the door easily open as if there wasn't any sort of lock.

Her face lit up with relief to see her favorite alien to be just fine. Sliding her wand back in her bun, she tackled him in a hug. "Doctor! Thank goodness I've found you!"

Of course, the Doctor was surprised as he stepped back a bit to keep them both from falling onto the floor. "Libby?"

The brunette grinned, pulling back to pat his cheek. "Yeah, it's me. We can talk about what happened later. First we need to find Rosie and Jack. This place gave me some bad vibes."

He cracked a smile, blue eyes trailing over to make sure the woman was okay… only to spot something new in her hair. "What do you have in your hair?"

"This?" She asked, pulling the wand out again. "Oh! The TARDIS gave this to me before I left to find you guys. She insisted I have this so… yeah. I have a sonic wand now."

His brows rose in surprise, processing her words. He couldn't really complain, knowing that Libby needed to be protected, being the last Time Lady who had yet to fully return. The TARDIS herself is much more protective of the female than even him. Suddenly he realized that Lynda was watching their whole exchange, the Doctor looked over his shoulder to meet her curious gaze. "Come with us."

Lynda glanced towards Strood who had been kneeling on the sofa.

"We're not allowed!"

"Stay in there, you've got a fifty-fifty chance of disintegration. Stay with me, I promise I'll get you out alive. Come on!"

Lynda looked rather nervous, her eyes flicking between the disintegrator and the pair on the other side of the room. "No… I can't, I can't…"

"Lynda, you're sweet. From what I've seen of your world, d'you think anyone votes for sweet?"

Libby smiled softly at the nervous woman. "It's alright darling, if you come with us, the Doctor's gonna try everything he can to give you a better chance of a life away from everything that seems to happen here. And I'll be here to make sure he doesn't act too much of an idiot."

Lynda definitely saw the logic in his words, but the new woman's words felt like she could be trusted. With the hand held out by the woman, Lynda slowly took it and went through both set of doors.

Now free, the Doctor looked around and saw a familiar area, one he had visited once before.

"Hold on… I've been here before. This is Satellite Five!"

"You mean the same one that had the creepy visible brains that what's-his-name tried to take advantage of for profit?" Libby asked with a frown as they made their way to a door.

The Doctor snorted at the mention of Adam as he used his sonic screwdriver to unlock and open the door, letting them through. The Doctor whirred his sonic over the control panel.

"No guards. That makes a change. You'd think a big business like Satellite Five would be armed to the teeth."

"But it wasn't. I was on Floor 500 and managed to sneak by some rather plain programmers with very little issue. Almost no one noticed me and the one that did said nothing to the others."

He shot her a curious look but she shook her head, mouthing "later" to him.

"No one's called it Satellite Five in ages. It's the Game Station now. Hasn't been Satellite Five in about a hundred years."

The Doctor checked his watch. "A hundred years exactly. It's the year two zero-zero/one zero-zero. I was here before. Floor 139. Satellite was broadcasting news channels back then… had a bit of trouble upstairs. Nothing too serious. Easy, gave 'em a hand, home in time for tea."

"A hundred years ago? What, you were here a hundred years ago?"

Seeing the skeptical smile on the woman's face, Libby chuckled. "He looks good for a man who was here a hundred years ago, right?"

"I moisturized." The Doctor agreed with a grin, sending a wink to the brunette. He looked at his sonic. "Funny sorts of readings. All kinds of energy… the place is humming. It's weird. This goes was beyond normal transmissions. What would they need all that power for?" He tried another door.

"I dunno. I think we're the first ever contestants to get outside."

"Other than Libby here, I have two friends traveling with me. They must've got caught in the same transmat. Where would they be?"

"I dunno. They could've been allocated anywhere. There's a hundred different games."

The Doctor was about to continue his questioning to Lynda when he realized something. He turned his blue eyes to Libby. "Wait… were you in a game?"

"Mm… nope. I was still in the TARDIS when I woke up, like I said. Thinking back, it was pretty strange that you guys was transmatted away but I was left alone."

His brow furrowed, clearly agreeing with how odd that was. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, the Doctor looked back to Lynda. "Like what?"

"Well, there's ten floors of Big Brother. There's a different House behind each of those doors. And then beyond that, there's all sorts of shows. It's non-stop. There's um… Call My Bluff… with real guns… Coundown, where you've got thirty seconds to stop the bomb going off… Ground Force, which is a nasty one… you get turned into compost." Lynda listed out, not noticing the disturbed look on Libby. "Erm… Wipeout, which speaks for itself. Oh! And Stars In Their Eyes. Literally, stars in their eyes. If you don't sing, you get blinded."

"That's… disturbing." Libby muttered, shuddering as her imagination painted the pictures of each of those shows.

"And you watch this stuff?" The Doctor asked, slipping his hand in Libby's and giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Everyone does." Lynda shrugs, as if it it's normal. "How come either of you don't?"

"Never paid for our license." He responded dismissively.

"Oh my God! You get executed for that!"

Libby snorted into her hand, looking away immediately when blue eyes landed on her. "Wouldn't be the first time someone attempted to execute him… And probably won't be the last."

"You keep saying things that don't make sense. But who are you though, Doctor, Libby? Really?"

"Doesn't matter."

The Doctor and Libby walked to another door nearby, with Lynda trailing behind.

"Well, it does to me… I've just put my life in your hands." Lynda huffed.

"We're just travelers, wandering past." He murmured, focusing on the task at hand. "Believe it or not, all I'm after is a quiet life."

"Sure, a quiet life… says the man that gleefully jumps into danger and gives me a heart attack most of the time." Libby muttered to herself, though it was just loud enough for the other two to hear.

"So… if we get out of here, what're you gonna do? Just… wander off again?"

"Fast as we can."  
"So… I could come with ya."

She wore an innocent yet hopeful smiles as she waited for an answer. The Doctor looked away from the lock he had been working on, studying the female. "Maybe you could."

"I wouldn't get in the way."

"… Not a bad idea Lynda with a Y." He said with a small smile, though it faltered as he looked over to Libby. He didn't want her to feel uncomfortable, not when he liked her so much. Wait… did he just thought that? Snapping out of his thoughts and cleared his throat, he briskly turned back to the door. "But first of all, we've gotta concentrate on the getting out. And to do that, you've got to know your enemy, who's controlling it, who's in charge of the satellite now?"

"Hold on…"

Lynda ran towards the opposite end of the room they're in and pulled a lever down, illuminating huge letters on the wall. Those words were "Bad Wolf Corporation". "Your Lords and Masters."

Libby tensed, her jaw set as she stared at the words. However, there was something else that had her uncomfortable. She couldn't say for sure why the word "Masters" made her feel this way. But… something deep in her reacted so strongly, leading her to grip the Doctor's sleeve.

He worriedly glanced to the poor woman, seeing her so tense. He didn't quite understand why, well not in it's entirety. "Hey… you okay?" He asked in a soft voice, turning her to face him. When there was barely a response, he made her look into his worried gaze.

One. Two. Three moments passed before Libby managed to refocused and see the blue eyes of the Time Lord. "Erm… sorry Doctor. Please don't ask what that was about. I… I don't have an answer for that right now."

The Doctor hesitated but decided to let it go. "Come on, let's keep going."

* * *

Eventually the three of them entered the observation deck, giving them the view of the Earth below the station. The planet itself is grey and ugly with patches of light scattering across the world.

"Blimey! I've never seen it for real before! Not… not from orbit. Planet Earth…"

Libby frowned, peering through the glass to see her home (even if it's years upon years in the future). "Why does it look like that?"

"Well, it's always been like that. Ever since I was born. See that there?" Lynda points to a spot. "That's the Great Atlantic Song Storm. It's been going twenty years. We get newsflashes telling us when it's safe to breathe outside."

"So the population just sits there? Half the world's too fat, half the world's too thin, and you lot just watch telly?"

Lynda was bright eyed, smiling. "Ten thousand channels, all beaming down from here."

"Do… do you not see what's wrong with that?" Libby murmured.

Doctor quickly turned serious, studying the planet he worked so hard to continuously protect. "But it's all gone wrong. I mean, HISTORY's gone wrong. Again. This should be the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human empire, I don't understand. Last time I was here, I put it right."

"No, but that's when it first went wrong. A hundred years ago, like you said. All the news channels, they just shut down overnight."  
"But that was me. I did that."

"There was nothing left in their place. No information. The whole planet just froze. The government, the economy, they collapsed… that was the start of it. One hundred years of hell."

"Oh my…" He stared at the Earth guiltily. "I made this world."

Libby slipped her hand into his, giving it a gentle squeeze. "You couldn't have known what would happen Doctor." She whispered. "Humanity has gone through so much throughout their existence, sometimes they make mistakes that leads to situations like this. You can't be the one to make every decision for them." When he opened his mouth to argue, Libby simply placed her finger over his lips. "No, you do so much already. Don't feel guilty for the decisions of the humans from a hundred years ago."

During her little speech, Jack found the trio in the observation deck, standing between the Doctor and Lynda. "There you guys are!"

"Ah, pretty boy, I was wondering when I was going to see you. What happened to you?" Libby asked with an arch of her brow.

"Oh, that. Let's just say a couple of droids wanted to take advantage of my good looks." He joked with a grin and wink. "But when they wanted to make unnecessary changes, I bid them adieu and made my way to you guys."

The Doctor and Libby shared a look before snickering under their breaths. "No matter, we need to find Rose. She's still in here somewhere. Can't you track her down?"

Jack shook his head no. "She must still be inside the games. All the rooms are shielded."  
The Doctor fiddled with the computer and Libby looked over his shoulder. "If we can just get inside this computer… she's GOT to be here somewhere."

"Well, you'd better hurry up. These games don't have a happy ending."  
"We KNOW that, Jack!" Libby hissed before the Time Lord had a chance to snap at the con man.

Flinching, Jack handed the Doctor his wrist device. He knew better than to argue with the angry brunette, having dealt with the brunt of her anger during their last adventure. He's still feeling the throbbing from her well placed punch. "There you go… Patch that in. It's programmed to find her."

"Thanks."

While the Doctor got to work, Jack flirtatiously grinned at Lynda as he shook her hand. "Hey there!"

"Hello!" Lynda greeted cheerfully.

"Captain Jack Harkness."  
"Lynda Moss."

"Nice to meet you Lynda Moss!"  
"D'you mind flirting outside?" The Doctor grumbled without even looking up.

"Yes, please don't flirt here. You cause enough trouble as is." Libby added, rolling her golden eyes.

"I was just saying hello!" Jack huffed indignantly, pouting like a little boy towards the other two time travelers.

"For you, that's flirting." The Doctor replied dryly.

"I'm not complaining." Lynda hummed to jack, still smiling.

"Which is a good idea." He kissed her hand.

"Oh!"

Libby gagged dramatically, drawing out a soft snort from the leather clad alien.

Unfortunately his decent mood left when the system beeped in protest. "It's not compatible. This stupid system doesn't make sense."

The wrist device is chucked to Lynda, while the men worked together to wrench away the front of the computer away. The wrist device is snatched back.

"This place should be a basic broadcaster. The systems are twice as complicated. It's more than just television… this station's transmitting something else."

"Like what?" Jack asked, furrowing his brow.

"I don't know. This whole Bad Wolf thing's tied up with me. Someone's manipulating my entire life. It's some sort of trap and Rose is stuck inside it." Doctor scowled, frantically working through the complicated system.

The wrist device beeped, lighting up the mood when the Doctor saw what it meant. "Found her! Floor 407!"

Lynda gasped in horror, knowing exactly what's there. "Oh my God! She's with the Anne Driod! You've gotta get her out of there!"  
"Rosie! Doctor, Jack! We need to go, now!" Libby said, clearly terrified for her blonde friend. Her hand gripped the chain her watch hangs from.

The men nodded. The quartet broke out in a run to the nearest lift and managed to get on pretty quickly. The lift raced upwards to Floor 407.

When the lift stopped on the floor, they could hear the voice belonging to Anne Driod.

"Rodrick, in physics, who discovered the Fifteen Dash Ten Barric Fields?"

The Doctor forced himself to drown the voice out, looking around until he could find the room they want. "Game Room Six, which one is it?!"

"Over here!" Lynda motioned, leading them to the door they need.

The Doctor whipped out his screwdriver and started buzzing the door. Libby joined in, refusing to just stand by and watch him try to open the door.

"… the correct answer is San Chen."

"Stand back, let me blast it open." Jack said.

"Can't" Doctor grunted, narrowing his focus onto the door. "It's made of Hydra Combination." He and Libby pressed their respective sonics into the touch sensitive pad. "Come on, come one, come on…"

With a bit of luck, the group managed to barge in, capturing the attention of the Floor Manager. Their luck wasn't enough as the door was too far from where the need to be.

"Rose!"

"Rosie!"

"Rose, you leave this life with nothing-" Anne Droid droned on.

"Stop this game!" Jack shouted.

"I order you to stop this game!" Doctor added in frantically.

"We're live on air!"

The Doctor sped across the wide expanse of floor as fast as he possibly could with Libby running beside him. Both of them were desperate to reach their blonde friend. Rose started to run towards them, shoving the podium out of the way.

"- You are the weakest link."

"Look out for the Anne Droid, it's armed!"

Rose was running with all her might… not seeing the Anne Droid turning her head and the jaw hinged down. The disintegrator beam shot out, hitting squarely in Rose's back. With a scream, the blonde teen is gone, just short of the Time Lord and the brunette. Jack on the other hand, continued towards the set, raging.

"What the hell did you do to her?!"

Libby fell to her knees right before the pile of dust where her friend had been prior. She couldn't hear anything that is going on around her. Only thing she could hear was the blood rushing through her ears as tears welled up. "Rosie…" She whimpered, taking a shuddering breath. She didn't notice a pair of arms wrap around her shoulders, or the hand gently petting her hair as if to comfort the grieving woman. She was barely aware of being hauled to her feet and shoved out of the room to a different place.

* * *

The group had gone through the process of interrogation and a convict photo before being taken to a cell. Out of the four of them, the Doctor was treated the most harsh, though Jack, Lynda and Libby did end up getting some of it as well.

"You will be taken from this place to the Lunar Penal Colony, there to be held without trial. You may not appeal against this sentence." Stated one of the security guards, staring down the group with a hard look.

Barely any response was given.

"Is that understood?"

Still no response. So the security guard went to the gate of the cell to open it. He didn't see or hear the soft mutterings between the group. Suddenly they all leapt to their feet. Jack punched and kicked his way out and through the gate. One guard was tossed aside. Another was thrown against the wall with enough force to knock the bloke out. Libby gritted her teeth, giving a swift kick to the groin of the first guard.

"Don't think I haven't felt you feel me up as if I'm a toy." She hissed. Yes, she was out of it for most of her time there after being pulled out of the game room, but it didn't mean that she couldn't think back how her body felt with a clearer mind.

The men winced, momentarily felt sympathetic for the sap. However, they didn't dwell on it, gathering some weapons and just left. The alarm went off behind them as they piled into the lift.

"Floor 500." The Doctor said, watching the numbers rise up to their chosen destination. The safety catch on the huge defabricator in his hands was released. He wore a dark expression, showing why he has the nickname "The Oncoming Storm".

When the lift doors opened to reveal the group with weapons in hand, marching inside with varying levels of fury on their faces (with the exception of Lynda with a Y).

"Okay! Move away from the desk! Nobody try anything clever. Everybody clears! Stand to the sides. And stay there."

This got the people in the room to clear, moving to the sides in fear of something happening to them.

"Who's in charge of this place?" The Doctor growls, brandishing his weapon at the Controller.

"… 18… 19… 20…"

"This Satellite's more than a Game Station."

"79…"

"Who killed Rose Tyler?"

"All staff are reminded that solar flares-"

"I want an answer!"

"… in delta point one."

"She can't reply." Squeaked out one of the male programers, flinching with everyone else when the gun is turned on them. "Don't shoot!"  
"Oh, don't be so thick. Like I was ever gonna shoot." Doctor grunted, tossing the gun into the male programmer's arms. "Captain, we've got more guards on the way up. Secure the exits."

"Yes sir!"

"What were you saying?" Libby asked, finally speaking up in an eerily calm tone. She only relaxed somewhat when the Doctor laid his hand on her shoulder.

"Do answer her, if you please."

"But…" the programmer gulped. "I've got your gun."

"Okay." The Doctor shrugged. "So shoot us. Why can't she," he motioned to the woman covered in wires, "answer?"

"She's um…" The poor sap is distracted by the gun in his arms. "Can I put this down?"  
"If you want, just hurry up."

"Thanks." He sighed with relief, setting the gun down. "Sorry. Um… the Controller is linked to the transmissions. The entire output goes through her brain, you're not a member of the staff so she doesn't recognize your existence."

"What's her name?"

"I don't know." The programmer said quietly. "She was installed when she was five years old. That's the only life she's ever known."

Libby stared at the Controller in horror. "This isn't right… she shouldn't be treated as nothing more than a thing."

"Door's sealed. We should be safe for about ten minutes." Jack called out from another part of the room.

"Keep an eye on 'em."

"But that stuff you were saying about something going on with the Game Station, I think you're right."

The device belonging to Jack beeped, leading him to read it and looked around.

"Unauthorized transmats… it's been going on for years."

"Show me."

"You're not allowed in there!" A female programmer called out, startling Jack when he placed his hand on the door to Archive Six. "Archive Sox is out of Bounds!"

"Yeah?" Libby snapped, drawing attention on the brunette as she strode towards Jack and the door. "Well, I came out of there earlier. Not out of bounds like you think. Well, not to us anyways." She said, opening the door with a hum of her wand, letting Jack inside. She stayed out, leaning against the wall while Jack went inside to see the TARDIS, watching the people in the room.

"Solar flare activity at delta point zero…" The Controller said, staring unseeingly ahead of her.

"If you're not holding us hostage, then open the door and let us out. The staff are terrified."

Libby narrowed her eyes, pushing herself off the wall and walked to the female programmer that spoke. "Oh, you mean the very same people that watched tons of people being killed on a daily basis?"

"That's not our fault, we're just doing our jobs."

"BULL!"

The Doctor gently pulled the golden eyed woman away, knowing she's agitated enough as is. "And with that sentence, you just lost the right to even talk to us. Now back off."

Lynda flinched when she heard the disgust in the Doctor's tone and the barely contained fury in Libby's. Neither were the type to anger and the female programmer came incredibly close to push one of them a bit too far. One of the screens nearby along with the lights flicker off, followed by the sound of the power winding down.

"That's just the solar flares. They interfere with the broadcast signal, so this place automatically powers down. Planet Earth gets a few repeats. It's all quite normal."

"Doctor…" Called the Controller quietly, bringing Libby's attention to her.

As the Doctor hadn't heard, it was up to the brunette to direct it. "Doctor, the girl wants you."

He blinked, looking towards Libby before turning to the Controller as she called for him again.

"Doctor…? Where's the Doctor?"

"I'm here."

"Can't see. I'm blind. So blind. All my life, blind. All I can see is numbers, but I saw you."

"What do you want?"

"Solar flares hiding me. They can't hear me… my… my masters. They always listen but they can't hear me now. The sun… the sun is so bright…"

"Who are your masters?"

"They wired my head, their name is forbidden. They control my thoughts, my masters… my masters, I had to be careful. They monitor the transmissions but they don't watch the programs. I could hide you inside the games."

"My friend died inside your games."

The cold tone seemed to drop the temperature in the room, causing a few people to shiver.

"Doesn't matter."

"Don't you DARE tell me that."

"They've been hiding. My masters, hiding in the dark space, watching and shaping the Earth… so, so, so many years… they've always been there. Guiding humanity, hundreds and hundreds of years."

"Who are they?" He asked.

"They wait. The plan and grow in numbers, they're strong now. So strong, my masters…"

"Who are they?" The Doctor tried again.

It was then, the Controller's blind eyes shifted to the Time Lord. "But they speak of you. My masters, they fear the Doctor."

"Tell me!" He shouted, stepping closer. "Who are they?"

The Controller gasped as the power flickered back on, leading her to count again. "20… 21… 22…"

"When's the next solar flare?" The Doctor asked the male programmer from earlier.

"Two years time."

"Fat lot of good that is."

"Found the TARDIS!" Jack said as he suddenly appeared out of Archive Six.

"Jack, we can't leave right now. There's something that needs to be done." Libby said, staring at the Controller.

"No. But the TARDIS worked it out. You'll wanna watch this."

The Doctor turned to watch while Libby stayed where she was.

"Lynda, could you start over there for me please?" Jack indicated to a spot.

"I… I just wanna go home."

Jack gave her a fixed smile. "It'll only take a second. Could you stand in that spot, quick as you can?"

Lynda hesitated before making her way to the spot Jack had asked for, an empty area of the floor.

"Everybody watching? Okay… three, two, one."

The button was pressed, starting the disintegrator beam and shot down onto the girl. There was nothing but a billow of smoke left.

"But you killed her!" The Doctor was shocked, staring at the spot where the girl had been previously.

Libby spun around, eyes wide in shock before fixing Jack with a glare. "Why'd you do that? She was innocent!"

"Oh, d'you think?"

The button is pressed again. Lynda reappeared between the Doctor and Libby, dazed but okay otherwise.

"What the hell was that?" Lynda asked after a moment, blinking to refocus.

"It's a transmat beam. Not a disintegrator, a secondary transmat system." Jack explained. "People don't get killed in the games! They get transported across space! Doctor, Libby, Rose is still alive!"

Realizing what this meant, the Doctor's eyes lit up in excitement. "You hear that? She's alive!" He laughed, pulling a relieved Libby into a spinning hug.

Libby laughed along with him. "Oh thank God! We need to find Rosie! I'm not going to relax until she's with us again."

He grinned, nodding in agreement. "She's out there somewhere!" He said as he released Libby and started to dash from one console to another.

"Doctor!" The Controller gasped in pain from trying to fight against what she's supposed to do. "Coordinates five point six point one-"

"Don't!" Doctor said as he typed them out frantically. "The solar flare's gone, they'll hear you!"

"-Point four three four- no my masters, no! I defy you! Stigma seven seven-" She screamed as the wires that had been attached to her all her life fell away and there was nothing but dust left behind.

"They took her." The Doctor said softly, staring where she had been.

* * *

Jack was sitting at one of the computer terminals, the others surrounding him. Libby planted herself in a chair, staring at her wand wordlessly. She didn't feel like being next to the programmers, at the risk of one flaring her temper up again. The Doctor went to her to see how she was doing.

"You're doing okay?"

"I… I'll be fine. I just need some distance from them. You can go to them, okay? You know I'll be here." Libby sighed, trying offer him a weak smile.

The Doctor bit the inside of his cheek, not wanting to leave him. But when she insisted, he… much to both of their surprise, kissed her forehead. "Alright." He joined the group around Jack.

"Look, use that." The male programmer handed Jack a disk. "It might contain the final numbers. I kept a log of all the unscheduled transmissions."

"Nice… Thanks…" Jack peered up at him, taking the man's hand with a flirtatious look in his eye. "Captain Jack Harkness, by the way…"

"I'm Davitch Pavale."

"Nice to meet you Davitch Pavale." Jack winked at the man, grinning.

"There's a time and place." The Doctor interjected, not wanting to watch it continue, not when Rose needs to be recused.

"Are you saying this entire set up's been a disguise all along?" The female programmer asked.

"Going way back." The Doctor confirmed. "Installing the Jagrafess a hundred years ago. Someone's been playing a long game. Controlling the Human Race from behind the scenes fro generations."

"Click on this." Jack said, handing a small device to the Doctor.

The Doctor took it and pointed it upwards, clicking it. There was an image of an empty expanse of space that materialized above their heads.

"The transmat delivers to that point. Right on the edge of the solar system."

"There's nothing there."

"Oh, but there is. Just because we can see it, doesn't mean it's not there, right Doctor?" Libby said from her chair.

"Right. That's what this satellite does. Underneath the transmission, there's another signal…"  
"Doing what?"

"Hiding whatever's out there. Hiding it from sonar, radar scanner… There's something sitting right on top of Planet Earth… but it's completely invisible. If I cancel the signal…"

A few buttons were pressed, revealing what had been hidden before. Now there's a circular spaceship, slowly revolving in place. The Doctor looked horrified as he recognized the ships and who they belonged to as more were revealed.

"That's impossible. I know those ships, they were destroyed." Jack said, gulping as he stared at the image.

"Obviously… they survived."

"Who did? Who are they?"  
"The Daleks…" Libby answered quietly before the Doctor could even start. She could feel her watch up heat up more than ever before, almost burning her. "Based on how many ships we can see and calculating how many would hold them, there's around a half of million of them." Libby stood, wincing when the watch touched some of her bare skin. She could just FEEL how horrible the angry tin cans of hate really are as a few memories of them slipped into her mind. She walked to the Doctor and grabbed him hand, just needing to hold onto something.

Just like the previous image, a new one materialized in its place to show three Daleks flanking Rose.

"I will talk to the Doctor." One Dalek said.

"Oh, will you? That's nice. Hello!" The Doctor replied back mockingly, waving at them.

"The Dalek Stratagem nears completion. The Fleet is almost read. You will not intervene."

"Oh, really? Why's that then?"

"We have your associate. You will obey or she will be exterminated."

Poor Rose looked rather terrified, shaking where she stood.

"No."

Everyone, including Libby, snapped their heads in his direction, shocked at his response.

"Explain yourself."

"I said NO."

"What is the meaning of this negative?"

"It means no."

"But she will be destroyed."

The Doctor stood. "No! 'Cos this is what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna rescue her. I'm gonna save Rose Tyler from the middle of the Dalek Fleet, and then I'm gonna save the Earth, and then just to finish it off, I'm gonna wipe every last STINKING Dalek outta the sky!"  
"But you have no weapons! No Defenses! No plan!"  
"Yeah. And doesn't that scare you to death? Rose?"

"Yes Doctor?" Rose asked eagerly.

"We're coming to get you."

"See you soon Rosie!" Libby chirped with a grin as the communication line closed.

* * *

AN: Hm… wonder why Libby reacted to the word Masters. Must be something in her past, from before the watch even comes into play. What? You want to know? Nope! That is for me to know and you to find out!

So I'm sure you all notice that I don't typically type out all parts of each episode. As this story and eventually the series, is focused on the Doctor and Libby, you'll see them more than the companions. That being said, I won't always leave them out. It'll largely depend on if they will be reacting to Libby and the changes she brings to previously established storylines, as well as if they're directly interacting to or within range of the Time Lady. One of the few exceptions is if there's a scene I particularly found funny and couldn't bring myself to leave out.

Anyways, Libby has her own sonic! I had planned for her to get one shortly before she opens her watch. As you can see, I made her sonic instrument into a wand as I didn't want it to be another screwdriver like so many other's I've seen. Plus, it's a nice connection to a series Libby enjoys that had been briefly mentioned in an earlier chapter.

It won't be much longer before you find out her title and even her name. Not to mention seeing the Link form! As a reminder, I've borrowed the general concept of Linking from Lizziexx in her Lunar Cycle series but there will be details tweaked to fit my story. I will say that I will not do a partial Link, it has already been done with Lizziexx's Evy. Plus, I'm not the type to write angst unless I have to so a partial Link is out anyways, considering how tragic the idea is, especially how long Evy had to deal with it.

Anyways, once I finish The Parting of Ways episode, The Beginnings will end. Don't worry though! I will continue into the next story, Once Upon A Link!


	7. Chapter 7

AN: When a conversation is in italics like _"THIS"_ , it means there's a mental conversation going on.

* * *

Last time on The Beginnings:

_"I will talk to the Doctor." One Dalek said._

_"Oh, will you? That's nice. Hello!" The Doctor replied back mockingly, waving at them._

_"The Dalek Stratagem nears completion. The Fleet is almost read. You will not intervene."_

_"Oh, really? Why's that then?"_

_"We have your associate. You will obey or she will be exterminated."_

_Poor Rose looked rather terrified, shaking where she stood._

_"No."_

_Everyone, including Libby, snapped their heads in his direction, shocked at his response._

_"Explain yourself."_

_"I said NO."_

_"What is the meaning of this negative?"_

_"It means no."_

_"But she will be destroyed."_

_The Doctor stood. "No! 'Cos this is what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna rescue her. I'm gonna save Rose Tyler from the middle of the Dalek Fleet, and then I'm gonna save the Earth, and then just to finish it off, I'm gonna wipe every last STINKING Dalek outta the sky!"_   
_"But you have no weapons! No Defenses! No plan!"_   
_"Yeah. And doesn't that scare you to death? Rose?"_

_"Yes Doctor?" Rose asked eagerly._

_"We're coming to get you."_

_"See you soon Rosie!" Libby chirped with a grin as the communication line closed._

* * *

Libby, Jack and the Doctor worked together to man the controls of the TARDIS. Normally it would've been the Time Lord alone so with two extra pairs of hands helping out, it was a little bit easier.

"We've got incoming!" Jack called, seeing the missiles hurtling towards the extraterrestrial ship with the intention of destroying them. When the collision occurred, orange flames obscuring the TARDIS from view of their enemies.

"The extrapolator's working. We've got a fully functional forcefield. Try saying that when you're drunk."

"Now's not the time to talk about being drunk!" Libby snapped, making sure to keep the ship steady so the Doctor could do what he needs to do.

The Doctor grinned as he operated some of the controls. "And for my next trick!"

The TARDIS began to materialize with its famous wheezing sound as it gradually came into view of the Daleks as it surrounded Rose and the Dalek closest to her. When the time was right, the Doctor shouted.

"Rose! Get down!"

Rose floundered as the Dalek's eyepiece swiveled around until it landed on the Dalek's most hated enemy.

"Rosie, you need to get down! NOW!" Libby urged, breathing out a small breath of relief when the blonde threw herself to the floor.

"Exterminate!" The Dalek attempted to fire at Jack, who had been holding the defabricator. The shot is deflected right back to the tin can of hate, it screaming as it exploded.

Rose winced as she struggled to her feet. She looked up when she felt a pair of dainty hands pull her up and smiled. "Thanks Libs…" She said softly, hugging the brunette, who returned it in full force.

"Of course darling, we weren't going to leave you behind to deal with… with THEM." Libby hissed out the last word, shooting the remains of the Dalek with a dark look. While her memories as a Time Lady hadn't returned yet, the essence still trapped within the watch, the feelings about the Daleks ran so deep that even her human self could feel it.

Rose felt surprised at seeing that kind of look on her friend, not having seen it to that level on the brunette. Only one she had seen it before was on the Doctor. "Erm…" The blonde cleared her throat awkwardly.

Libby snapped out of her dark thoughts, blinking as she was brought back into reality. "Right! Doctor, get your butt over here and give our dear Rosie a hug."

The Doctor chuckled, only briefly having been worried towards Libby and her response to the alien that had been destroyed. Walking over, he pulled Rose into a hug and didn't hesitate to bring Libby in too.

"Feels like I haven't seen either of you in years." Rose whispered in the hug.

"Told you we'd come and get you Rose. Libby would've had my head if I didn't." He joked.

Rose laughed. "Never doubted it. She can be truly scary when she's angry."

Libby smirked. "Of course! Someone has to keep the idiots in line while you're gone. Sometimes the only way for Big Ears to listen is to get him to notice the anger."

"Welcome home!" Jack greeted, coming down from the console to join the others.

"Oh, thought I'd never see you again."

"Oh, you were lucky, I was just a one-shot wonder. Drained the gun of all its power supply. Now it's just a piece of junk."

"Bah!" Libby scoffed. "We don't need a gun anyways. We've got the Doctor and the TARDIS! He'll help us get out of this as safely as possible."

The four of them all turned to the Dalek, looking its remains overs. The battle armor had been torn away by it's own blast, giving them a clear view of the mutation inside.

Libby looked disgusted, shuddering as she averted her golden eyes away. Any longer looking at the mass would've made her empty her stomach.

"You said they were extinct. How come they're still alive?" Rose asked with a frown, just as disgusted as her friend.

"One minute they're the greatest threat in the universe, the next minute they vanished out of time and space." Jack said.

"They went off to fight a tiger war…" The Doctor started, pausing as he didn't really want to bring it up.

"The Time War." Libby finished, closing her eyes. The watch had been warm against her skin and the voices filling her head. This had been happening more frequently since the adventure started. It must mean that the time for her choice is approaching.

Jack's head snapped in her direction, baffled how she would even know about that, having assumed she came from the twenty first century. "I thought that was just a legend." He said, narrowing his eyes at Libby. "How would you, a human woman from the twenty first century, know about the Time War?"

Silence momentarily filled the room around them. The Doctor gently squeezed Libby's shoulder, causing her to look up at him. She knew what that meant. She was free to tell them or not. And really… it won't be a secret for much longer.

"Because, Jack… turns out I'm not exactly human."

"What the hell's that supposed to mean? You look human!"

"No, you look Time Lord. We came first." The Doctor pointed out, giving Jack a look to silence him.

"Libby…? What do you mean? If you're not human, then what are you?" Rose asked softly in an encouraging tone, tilting her head.

Sighing heavily, Libby grabbed the watch on the chain around her neck and gently thumbed the Circular Gallifreyan design on the top. Voices belonging to the Time Lady essence inside filled her mind. "I don't have all the information, but… Doctor told me that inside this watch, is a me that is a Time Lady." She motioned to the watch in her hands for Jack and Rose to see clearly. "For some reason, that me put her essence into the watch, leaving this human version in her place."

"A Time Lady?!" Jack shouted, shocked as he could see the watch. "But why? What's the purpose of hiding away your essence?"

"Sometimes…" The Doctor interjected. "Sometimes, when one of us is in danger, a Time Lord or Lady may put their essence into something like a fob watch in order to protect themselves. We won't know why she did until the watch is opened and the essence is returned to where they belong."

"Does that mean that the Libby we've known all this time isn't real?" Rose asked.

"That's not the case. The Libby we've gotten to know is a part of her so she'll still be there, just not in the same way."

Libby sniffled, hugging the blonde. "I promise you Rosie, you are one of my dearest friends. I just know that you'll still be so important to me. Our relationship may have to change to adjust to my other self, but just know that I still care."

Rose returned the hug, nodding. "I believe you Libs…"

The Doctor smiled a bit. "Now! Back to the Dalek and the Time War. It's more than just a legend. I was there. It was between the Daleks and the Time Lords with the whole of creation at stake. Most of my people were destroyed, but they took the Daleks with them." He sighed, eyeing the smoldering Dalek. "I almost thought it was worth it. Now it turns out they died for nothing."

"Don't say that…" Libby whispered. "Taking out the hateful salt and pepper shakers before they destroy everything is worth it. Just think of how many lives you do save each time they're taken out."

Blue eyes met gold as the Doctor nodded his head slowly before taking on a more cheery demeanor. "No good standing round here chin wagging! Human Race, you'd gossip all day. The Daleks have got the answers, let's go and meet the neighbors."

He walked down the ramp and headed straight for the doors with Rose chasing after him to stop him. Libby sighed, following at a slower pace.

"Idiot…"

* * *

Cries of the Daleks filled the air as many of them tried to fire their bolts of deadly energy at the Doctor… only for it to reflect off the forcefield go the TARDIS. The Doctor smugly watched his nemesis trying and failing to hit them. Libby stood beside him and tugged on his ear, earning a protest.

"No need to be so smug." She chatised him, wagging her finger at him like a mother scolding a child.

He snickered, amused before turning back to the Daleks. "Is that it? Useless! Null points." He leaned against the ship with his arms over his chest. "It's all right, come on out. That forcefield can hold back anything."

"Almo-" Jack was cut off before he could finish as he shouted in pain from a heel slamming into his foot.

"Don't even finish that thought Jack."

"D'you know what they call me in the ancient legends of the Dalek Homeworld? The Oncoming Storm. You might've removed all your emotions… but I reckon that right down deep in your DNA, there's one little spark left. And that's fear."

That got them to react, the eyepieces twitching in a nervous manner.

"Doesn't it just BURN when you face me? So, tell me, how did you survive the Time War?"

"They survived…" Wheezed a voice from another part of the room. "Through me."

The Doctor spun around, now finally noticing the Emperor Dalek, startled. He took a few steps forward, stopping when a hand gripped his sleeve to keep him from going much further. The Emperor is illuminated, towering above all of them.

"Rose… Libby… Captain… this is the Emperor of the Daleks."

"You destroyed us, Doctor. The Dalek Race died in your inferno, but my ship survived, falling through time, crippled but alive."

"I get it." He sighed. The Doctor didn't even flinch when three different Daleks demanded him to not interrupt. Libby was quiet, gripping the sleeve as if it was the only was to keep her calm. And perhaps it was.

Rose and Jack on the other hand did flinch, somewhat uncomfortable being so close to the dangerous group of aliens.

"I think you're forgetting something. I'm the Doctor. And if there's one thing I can do, it's talk. I've got five billion languages and you haven't got ONE way of stopping me. So if anybody's gonna shut up, it's YOU!" He roared out the last few words, feeling pleased when the Daleks rolled back slightly. "Okey doke. So, where were we?"

"We waited here in the dark space, damaged but rebuilding. Centuries passed, and we quietly infiltrated the systems of Earth. Harvesting the waste of humanity. The prisoners, the refugees, the dispossessed, they all came to us. The bodies were filtered, pulped, sifted. The seed of the Human Race is perverted. Only one cell in a billion was fit to be nurtured."

"So, you created an army of Daleks out of the dead."

Rose was coming to a slow realization, staring wide eyed at the Emperor. "That makes them… half human."

"Those words are blasphemy!"  
"Do not blaspheme! Do not blaspheme! Do no blaspheme!"

"Everything human has been purged. I cultivated our and blessed Dalek."

Suddenly laughter filled the room. Libby had bent over with her hand over her stomach while holding onto the Time Lord. "A Dalek… having a concept of blasphemy! Oh this is too good! They say that there's nothing human about them and just proved their own words wrong!"

The Emperor seemed to ignore Libby. "I reached into the dirt and made new life. I am the God of all Daleks!"

"Worship him! Worship him! Worship him!" Chanted the Daleks.

"They're insane!" The Doctor said to the others. "A hundred years hiding in silence, that's enough to drive anyone mad. But it's worse than that. Driven mad by your own flesh. The stink of humanity." It was clear he pitied the Daleks for their rather pathetic existence.

"They hate their own existence… It's rather sad but it makes them more dangerous than ever before. Doctor, we need to go. I don't want to be here any longer than we need to." Libby said quietly, pulling the Doctor through the doors and closed the doors behind everyone once all of them were safely inside. None of them heard the Emperor demand them to stay, that they're not allowed to leave his presence.

* * *

The familiar sound of the TARDIS wheezing filled the room of Floor 500, the ship materializing in. The Doctor came out first. Libby, Rose and Jack came out moments after. Libby plopped herself in a chair with a heavy sigh.

"Turn everything up." The Doctor ordered as he strode up to the controls. "All transmissions, wide open, full power. Now! Do it!"

"What does that do?" Asked the male programmer as he obeyed.

"Stops the Daleks from transmatting on board. How did you get on? Did you contact Earth?"

"Well, we tried to warn them, but all they did was suspend our license because we stopped the programs.""And the planet's just sitting there, defenseless." The Doctor suddenly noticed Lynda still there. "Lynda, what're you still doing on board?" He turned on the programmer. "I told you to evacuate everyone."

"She wouldn't go."

"Didn't wanna leave ya." Lynda said with a shrug of her shoulders.

Libby and Rose shared a frowning look before the brunette of the pair spoke up. "You do realize this is going to get incredibly dangerous, right Lynda? We can't promise that you'll get out unscathed, especially with beings as dangerous as the Daleks."

The female programmer responded instead. "There weren't enough shuttles anyway, or I wouldn't be here…" She flinched under the hard glare Libby sent her way. "We've got about a hundred people stranded on Floor Zero."

"Oh my God…" The male programmer muttered, staring at the screen. "The Fleet is moving. They're on their way."

This got the Doctor to frantically run around the Floor, ripping out armfuls of wires from the desks. Most of the other watched him, not entirely sure what he's trying to do or how they could help. Libby had a bit of an idea, although that might've been because of the knowledge flowing into her head.

"If I can change the signal, fold it back, sequence it, anyone?"

Jack understood at that moment. He had been trying to figure out what the Time Lord was attempting to do. "You've got to be kidding."

"Give the man a medal!"

"A Delta Wave?"

"A Delta Wave!"

"What's a Delta Wave?" Rose asked.

"It's a wave of Van Cassadyne energy, Rosie." Libby explained before Jack could have the chance to. "It's supposed to fry your brain so if anyone stands in the way of one, your brain turns into a barbecue."

"And this place can transmit a MASSIVE wave! Wipe out the Daleks!" The Doctor grinned in the process of setting the whole thing up.

"Well, get started and do it then!"

"Trouble is, wave this size, building this big, brain as clever as mine, should take about… oh, three days? How long till the Fleet arrive?"

"Twenty two minutes."

The Doctor's jaw tightened as he continued to pull out another cable, staring at it for a moment.

"We've now got a forcefield so they can't blast us out of the sky." Jack said after a few minutes, hitting keys on the computer. "But that doesn't stop the Daleks from physically invading."

"Do they know about the Delta Wave?"

"They'll have worked it out at the same time. So if they want to stop the Doctor, that means they've got to get to this level, 500." Jack sighed, indicating the illustrative diagram on the screen. "Now, I can concentrate the extrapolator around the top six levels 500 to 495. So they'll penetrate the station below that at level 494 and fight their way up."

"Who're they fighting?"

"Us."

"And… what're we fighting with?" The male programmer sounded nervous

"The guards had huns with bastic bullets, that's enough to blow a Dalek wide open."

"There's SIX of us." The programmer said skeptically, eyeing Jack.

The Doctor called from where he was, covered in wires. "Rose, Libby, both of you can help me. I need all these wires stripped bare."

The female programmer groaned. "Right! Now there's FOUR of us!"

"Then let's move it! Into the lift! Isolate the lift controls!" Jack barked, leading the other four to the lift so they can defend the station the best they can, to buy time for the Doctor to work his magic.

"I… I just wanna say um… thanks I supposed. And… I'll do my best!" Lynda said softly, offering a weak smile to the Doctor before turning to join the others.

"Me too…"

Perhaps, in another universe, their goodbye could've been different but there was too much at stake to really dwell on for long.

"It's been fun!" Jack called, doing his best to keep his tone light. "But I guess this is goodbye."

"Hurry Jack. Buy us the time we need." Libby insisted, patting his shoulder. "Try not to die on us, eh?"

Jack chuckles, turning to Rose, cupping both of her cheeks. "You Rose… you are worth fighting for." He gave her a light and brief kiss on her lips. "Wish I'd never met you Doctor! I was much better off as a coward."

"Nah, a coward's life is rather boring, dontcha think Jack?" The brunette joked.

Jack grinned. "See ya in hell."

With that, the other four finally disappeared into the lift, heading down to defend the floors for as long as they could.

"He's gonna be all right…" Rose murmured, trying her best to believe her own words. "… isn't he?"

Libby hugged the blonde, squeezing her eyes shut. "I bet he'll be fine… He's like a cockroach, always come back when we least expect it." She assured her friend, not even realizing how true her words was going to be.

* * *

The trio worked together on the floor in the middle row of desks in relative silence. The Doctor had thought about what he's going to do to protect both his companion and the last Time Lady. He knew that the chances oh him surviving is on the lower end of the spectrum. He didn't want either to die, Libby especially. He ended up snapping out of his thoughts when he heard Rose speak.

"Suppose…" But she didn't finish her sentence, trailing off.

"…What?"

"Nothing."

"You said 'suppose'."

"No, I was just thinking… I mean obviously you can't, but… you've got a time machine. Why can't you just go back to last week and warn them?"

"Rosie…" Libby said in a soft voice. " We can't. If we try, we become a part of the events, a part of the timeline. Time isn't that flexible."

Rose sighed, having expected an answer like that, even if she's still weirded out that Libby even knew about it. "Yeah, thought it'd be something like that…"

"There's another thing the TARDIS could do… it could take us away."

Libby smacked his shoulder. "We all know you wouldn't leave innocents to their fate if you can help it Doctor. "You're not that type of man."

The Doctor gave a small smile, his hearts warming at her praise. He was glad that she had such a high regard for him, even considering all that had happened.

"The Delta Wave's started building. How long does it need?" He asked.

The three of them leapt to their feet, hurrying to the computers. The Time Lord sat himself in the chair with both women peering over each of his shoulders. He pressed a few of the buttons to see what comes up… only for his expression to fall.

"Oh no… it's not good." Libby muttered after a moment. The information and knowledge had been coming quicker than it had ever before so she managed to understand what she was seeing.

"Is it that bad?" Rose asked the Doctor to hear what he'll say.

No response.

"Okay, so it's bad like Libs pointed out. How bad is it?"

Suddenly he perked up as an idea came to mind. "Ladies, you're a GENIUS!" He laughed, pulling them both in for a hug on each side. "We can do it! If I use the TARDIS to cross my old timeline… yes!" The Doctor darted into the ship, straight towards the console with the ladies hot on his heels. "Hold that down and keep position." He said, pointing Rose in the right direction. "You too Libby, it'll make it easier to keep it there."

"What's it do?"

"Cancels the buffers. If I'm very clever and I'm more than clever, I'm BRILLIANT, I might just save the world."

"Or rip it apart Doctor!" Libby interrupted.

"Let's go for the first one, yeah?"

The Doctor grinned. "Let's… Now, I've just got to go and power up the Game Station. Hold on!"

With that, he was out while the women held the lever in place. Moment he stepped through those doors, they closed. He knew what he had to do. They shouldn't be here when it all goes down. "I'm sorry… but I can't let you die, not for me. Please forgive me Libby…" He whispered, raising his sonic and pressed the button. The Time Lord had been thankful that Libby wasn't yet her true self, otherwise she might've been able to pick up stray thoughts of his plan. He turned his back to block out the yelling from both the blonde and brunette.

"No! Doctor you idiot!" Libby shouted as Rose ran to the doors, abandoning her post. The brunette let go as well, turning her own gaze up to the pillar of the console. "And you're letting him do this?! Why? He's going to die there alone!" She cried out, tears spilling down her cheeks. She slid down to the floor, wrapping her arms around her knees to cry quietly.

The TARDIS hummed sadly, singing her song in an attempt to calm the fuming woman. The ship didn't like to leave her pilot behind but if there was anything she could agree on, it's to protect the last Time Lady. Plus there was an added reason to allowing him to send them away.

While Rose had been pounding and Libby crying, a hologram came to life. It was in the shape of the Doctor in all his leather glory.

"This is Emergency Program One. Ladies, now listen, this is important. If this message is activated, then it can only mean one thing. We must be in danger. And I mean fatal. I'm dead or about to die any second with no chance of escape."

"No!" Rose lunged forward, only to realize she couldn't feel him.

"And that's okay. Hope it's a good death. But I promised to look after you, and that's what I'm doing. The TARDIS is taking you home."

"I won't let you."

"And I bet you and Libby both are fussing and moaning now, typical. But hold on and just listen a bit more. The TARDIS can never return for me. Emergency Program One means I'm facing an enemy that should never get their hands on this machine. So this is what you both should do… let the TARDIS die."

Libby's head snapped up as she gritted her teeth. No way in hell she'll let this beautiful ship become a shell, or let the Doctor die.

"Just let this old box gather dust. No one can open it. No one will even notice it. Let it become a strange little thing standing on a street corner. And over the years, the world will move on and the box will be buried. And if you want to remember me, then you can do one thing. That's all. One thing." The hologram turned his head to look at the women with eyes full of compassion. "Have a good life. Do that for me. Have a fantastic life." The hologram flickered off, leaving them alone.

"I'll be damned if I just let him do this to us." Libby growled, slowly rising from the floor and wiped her tears away. She pulled Rose into a tight hug, just knowing the young woman needed it.

Their attention is drawn to how the grinding suddenly stopped and there was no movement. Rose pulled out of the hug and ran outside to see… Powell Estate.

Libby took a deep breath, feeling her anger beginning to bubble over. Her anger towards the Doctor, towards the TARDIS, towards the Daleks, and most importantly towards herself. She should've noticed something was up when he had her and Rose stay behind while Jack took the rest to defend. Suddenly, Libby realized something. This was the choice she needed to make. Listen to the Doctor and continued to live her life as a human on Earth as if she never joined him. Or… open the watch, become a Time Lady again and go to save the idiotic alien. She hadn't even noticed how Mickey came to find them both.

* * *

By the time Libby was able to make a decision and focus again, she found herself in an ordinary chip shop with Rose, Mickey and Jackie.

"You alright dear?" Jackie asked, noticing Libby focusing again. "You were quite out of it."  
"Ah… I'll be fine but… there's something I need to do. I can't just sit here and let the Doctor be a noble prat to sacrifice himself." She said, taking a sip of water that had been sitting before her before pushing back the chair and standing. "Rosie, you coming?"

The blonde nodded with a determined gleam in her eyes.

"Rose no! As much I hated that man, I'm eternally grateful that he did the right thing, sending you home to me." Jackie protested, turning to her chips as if she intended the matter to end there.

Rose shook her head, feeling desperate. "But what do I do every day, Mum? What do I do? Get up, catch the bus, go to work, come back home, eat chips and go to bed? Is that it?"

"It's what the rest of us do." Mickey said coldly, clearly not happy with the fact that Rose is insisting on going after another man.

"But I can't!"

"Why, 'cos you're better than us?"

"Come off it Mickey." Libby snapped, slamming her hands on the table. "I get you're being a jealous boyfriend but right now, I'm not in the mood to put up with your bloody issues. The Doctor is out there, getting ready to let himself die in order to take out a race of aliens that could destroy all life as we know it. No way I'm going to let it happen. Come on Rosie, we need to hurry back to the TARDIS. I need to open the watch and I feel it'll be safest there."

Rose took Libby's outstretched hand and the two were off.

* * *

They ran all the way back to the TARDIS, barely missing a beat. "Rosie, please… stay at the door. I don't know what's going to happen when I open the watch. I'd rather you keep some distance between us until it's done. I won't leave you here, I promise. You and I… we're gonna save the Doctor together."

Rose hesitated, biting her lip. "Okay… But I refused to leave the doors, no further."

Libby smiled softly, understanding the blonde's worry. "Of course." She whispered, patting the cheek of the blonde before slowly backing into the TARDIS up until she was on the ramp. Her hand touched the cool metal of her watch, gently grasping it and holding it up. The voices were the clearest they've ever been, encouraging her to open the watch.

This was it.

Her thumb pressed down on the button at the top of the fob watch, it clicking open and bright light filling the room.

Rose had to cover her eyes, unable to see what's happening.

"What's happening?" Mickey asked suddenly as he finally managed to catch up to his girlfriend… although they might not be a thing anymore.

"Guess you wouldn't know… Libby is apparently an alien like the Doctor. I'm not going to get into that whole thing now."

Mickey frowned in confusion. An alien like the Doctor? Well, whatever's going on, he might as well and try to convince Rose. "You can't spend the rest of your life thinking about the Doctor."

"Really? Now's not the time Mickey. I can't forget him and I can't forget the way I can live my life."

"The same life where you're always running? Always in danger?"

"Not necessarily like that but he did show me my life could be so much more, Mickey. I don't have to just stick with the normal everyday life that I lived before, I could go out there and help people."

Mickey's face darkened, not remotely happy that she still refused the kind of life he wanted, a life with her.

Rose didn't really notice, not when she happened to notice two words nearby in huge letters, BAD WOLF. "No… They're here too? I thought it was a warning… maybe it's the opposite. Maybe it's a message. The same words written down now and two hundred thousand years in the future. It's a link between me and the Doctor! Bad Wolf here… Bad Wolf there!"

"Yes Rosie… Those words are guiding us to return to the Doctor." Rasped a strangely familiar voice, though there was something different about it.

Rose looked back through the doors to see Libby there, looking slightly different.

The Time Lady largely looked like her human form but her golden eyes now held a wisdom that could come from living through centuries. Her height went up a bit, making her a bit taller and there's a newfound confidence.

"Libby…? Is that you?" Rose asked hesitantly, making small steps towards her friend.

She chuckled, grabbing Rose and brought her in for a comforting hug. "Yes, Darling… it's still me. You can still call me Libby, it's actually short for the Librarian."

"The… Librarian?" Rose asked slowly before bursting out laughing. "What's with you Time Lords? Using titles like that?"

"It was how things were done." The Time Lady sounded amused. "We can't exactly tell anyone our true names other than a select few. At least I can get away with a relatively normal sounding name. The Doctor can't."

Rose laughed again, stepping back. "We'll have a proper talk later, yeah?"

"Naturally. Now come on, we need to get Beautiful going. She'll be a stubborn mule, but I'm worse." The Librarian grinned, looking over her shoulder to stare at the console. "I know you can hear me Darling. Let's not delay this any more than we have to."

 _"… Fine… we'll go with your way. But, there's something that need to happen with our little blonde human."_ Sang the TARDIS in the Time Lady's mind.

_"Oh? Do tell what she needs to do. Is there something in here she needs to be exposed to?"_

There seemed to be a moment of silence before there was a response. _"She needs to look into my heart and become Bad Wolf."_

Well… this was a surprise. _"What? Why would she need to be Bad Wolf? If she looks into your heart, she could die!"_

_"It was written in the stars by Bad Wolf herself."_

Ooooh… this was getting frustrating. The Librarian sighed heavily. _"Alright, fine! But you need to make it easy for her to open it and see your heart and easy for me to pilot you back to the Doctor."_

Poor Rose watched Libby's expression changed multiple times, feeling rather confused as she couldn't hear the mental conversation. "Um… Libby?"

"Hm?" The brunette blinked before realizing that Rose couldn't keep up with the conversation. "Oh! Right, Rosie… you need to open the hatch, the very same hatch from we dealt with Blon, and stare into her heart. I can't explain now, we're on a strict time limit."

Rose frowned. "Okay… But what if I can't open it?"

"You can and you will. Please… we need to hurry. I'll help you open up the hatch." She murmured, offer a lighthearted smile.

The pair linked their arms and made their way to the console where the hatch they needed to open waited for them. In a different realm, had Rose been on her own, she would've needed to tear open the hatch to get what she needed but with the Librarian there, it was surprisingly easy.

The TARDIS opened up the hatch, exposing her heart and waited. Waited for Rose to look as white light pours out.

"Don't worry Rosie Darling… just take a look inside. I'll be right here next to you." She cooed soothingly, letting the blonde hold onto her.

Rose looked into the light, reflecting off of her face with more of a golden light compared to the white from before. Suddenly, a breeze blew through her hair as that light began to flow into her eyes in the form of two golden streams.

"There… it's time for us to go. Back to the Doctor, ready Old Girl?" The Librarian smiled, looking at the pillar as it groaned to life, beginning the dematerialization process.

* * *

"Alert! TARDIS Materializing!" Shouted a Dalek, almost sounding panicked if the tin can had the ability.

The Doctor found himself shocked when he heard his believed ship returned to the very spot it had left sometime ago. He spun around to see the familiar blue box. The doors flew opened, filling the floor with blinding light belonging to the Time Vortex, forcing the Doctor to shield his eyes. In the doorway stood Rose, wrapped in the golden light and followed her as she stepped forward.

"What've you done?" The Doctor asked in dawning horror as he stared at the companion.

"I looked into the TARDIS. And the TARDIS looked into me." Rose said quietly, losing her London accent.

"You looked into the Time Vortex… Rose, no one's meant to see that."

"This is the abomination!" Screeched the Emperor.

"Exterminate!"

When the Dalek tried to fire a bolt of energy at Rose, the bolt froze midair for just a second before rapidly reversing back into the gun as if it never fired in the first place.

"I am the Bad Wolf. I create myself. I take the words…"

The words BAD WOLF CORPORATION written high above the wall began to rise from the wall.

"I scatter them in time and space."

With a wave of her hand the words floated away to be spread out to the many different times and places the Doctor and Rose had visited previously, even a few for human Libby to have seen.

"A message to lead myself here."

"Rose…" The Doctor called urgently. "You've got to stop this. You've got to stop this now. You've got the entire vortex running through your head. You're gonna burn."

"I want you safe." Rose whispered, suddenly turning her glowing eyes in his direction. "There's another that needs you more than anyone in the entire universe."

The Doctor was taken aback, staring at Rose. He couldn't understand what she meant but he did see the tear tracks trailing down her cheeks.

"My Doctor. Protected from the False God."

"You cannot hurt me. I am immortal." The Dalek Emperor crowed."

Rose turned on the Emperor, narrowing her eyes dangerously. "You are tiny. I can see the whole of time and space. Every single atom of your existence, and I divide them." She raised her hand, causing the Dalek in the centre to separate into golden particles. "Everything must come to dust… all things. Everything dies. The Time War ends."

"I will not die. I cannot die!" Now the Emperor was starting to sound panicked as its eye screwed shut.

The entire mothership is reduced to nothing but the golden particles, dissolving away into oblivion.

Rose was shaking as she stood with her arms raised.

"Rose, you've done it. Now stop. Just let go." The Doctor pleaded.

"How can I let go of this? I bring life…" With a flick of her hand, she made the deceased Jack returned to life; however not in the way Rose would have intended.

"But this is wrong! You can't control life and death!"

"But I can." Rose murmured. "The sun and the moon… the day and night." Her voice began to tremble. "But why do they hurt?"

"The power's gonna kill you and it's my fault."

"But it's not Doctor." The Librarian's voice suddenly echoed in the room, coming from the TARDIS behind the blonde. "You can't control the actions of other people. Rosie and I were going to come here one way or another. There's things in time that must happen, this being one of them."

His head snapped to the brunette, now finally noticing her as she stepped around Rose. Now he was noticing another presence in his mind, one he dearly missed, a Time Lord's mind. "You… you opened the fob watch?"

"We'll talk about it later Doctor." She said softly, shaking her head and avoided meeting his gaze head on. She knew that something would happen if she did but it needed to wait until after the Time Vortex is pulled out of Rose. "But first, we both must pull the Vortex out before our dear friend is killed. She'll be driven mad and her mind burn to a crisp if we don't hurry."

His mouth was opened, floundering like a fish before snapping shut. He understood why, seeing the anguish Rose was feeling as tears slipped down her cheeks. "I think you need a Doctor." He whispered, leaning to kiss one cheek of the blonde while the Librarian was kissing the other.

The two Time Lords worked together to pull the powerful Time Vortex out of Rose until there was no more, causing Rose to collapse into the Doctor's arms as he had been the closest. He carefully carried Rose inside, managing not to stumble when his body wracked with pain of containing something he's not suppose to contain.

The Librarian wasn't as lucky as she did fall onto the ground inside the TARDIS. She grunted, standing up with the help of the railings. Both her and the Doctor opened their mouths to expel the energy of the Time Vortex and send it back into the heart of the ship.

Now back to normal, the ship groaned to life once more, sending the three of them into the Time Vortex and leaving behind the impossible Jack, stranded on Satellite Five.

This was finally the moment for the Time Lords to face each other, away from the danger (for now). "Libby… it's now later." The Doctor called to her quietly, moving around the console to see her properly.

"Yes, I supposed it is. I'm sure you want an explanation." The Librarian sighed. "Let's start with my title, shall we? I'm the Librarian. Funnily enough, the human nickname I chose was the best way for me to connect to myself even when my essence was locked away."

His brows rose as he took in her name, or rather the name she chose for herself. He also noticed how she isn't meeting his gaze directly the entire time. There was a niggling feeling in the back of his head that he needed to. That it would be something he'd want to experience. "Hey… look at me Librarian." He whispered, gently tipping her chin up so blue can finally meet golden.

It was that moment that something snapped into place. Both parties were suddenly flooded with memories from all of their lives, all their emotions, their hardships, their joys. Everything was brought out into the open… so to speak. There's a few different ways a Linking could go, depending on the circumstances. It could be a friendship Link, a rival Link, a familial Link, or most commonly, a romantic Link.

His jaw dropped as the Doctor knew exactly what just happened. It was something he had hoped to find for so long but gave up hope when his planet was left to burn, along with his people.

 _"You're… you're my Link."_ He whispered, blinking as he stared into her eyes.

 _"And you're mine, you silly man."_ She returned in an equally soft voice, smiling softly.

_"Did you know?"_

_"That we're Links?"_ She shook her head. _"No. I had a suspicion, but I didn't know for sure until just now. At the time, back on the Game Station, I knew we had to save Rosie before we met eyes."_

The Doctor pursed his lips somewhat, trying to hide his amused grin. _"So… Aridra. Taken from the star called Aridra Nakshatra, which was believed to be a mixture of intellectual sense with fanatical thinking."_

She snorted. _"What about you Theta? Your name basically implies talk about the temperature. Well at least in terms of the Greeks."_ She teased, a slow grin growing on her lips. _"But I suppose if we were to go more with our planet's definition of your name, it'd be closer to Divine. Which sometimes describes you."_

Their mental conversation was interrupted when a soft groan came from Rose as she finally stirred awake.

"What happened?"

"Don't you remember?" The Doctor asked, surprised.

The Librarian rolled her eyes, tugging on his ear. "Of course she can't remember." She said before lowering her voice and leaned closer to her Link so he's the only one to hear. "It would've been too much for her human mind to handle. She's going to have gaps in her memory from the time she looked into the Heart back on Earth to now."

Rose frowned, scrunching her nose as a fleeting memory popped into her head. She couldn't grasp it all but there was enough. "I remember some… singing."

"That's right!" The Doctor replied cheerily. "We sang a song together and the Daleks ran away."

_"Nice save. Can't have her remember what she did to them."_

He smiled a bit to hear the Librarian's voice in his head.

"I was at home… no, I wasn't. I was in the TARDIS with Libby and…" Rose paused, not noticing either Time Lord's hand shimmer with a gentle golden light before fading. "I can't remember anything else."

The Doctor and Librarian shared an uneasy look. Maybe it might be better not to remind her too much of what exactly happened, not if it could be helped.

The man in leather plastered on a smile when Rose noticed them watching her.

"Rose Tyler." He laughed. "I was gonna take you to so many places. Barcelona, not the city Barcelona, the planet. You'd love it. Fantastic place, they've got dogs with no noses."

"Doctor, you're rambling." The Librarian interjected, knowing he wasn't going to be clear on what's going to happen.

"Sorry." He said sheepishly.

Rose seemed rather confused. "But why can't we go? Why does it almost sound like you're saying goodbye?"

The Time Lady sighed, gently cupping the blonde's cheek. "Rosie, I'll explain since the ponce isn't going to be clear until it's too late." She smiled comfortingly. "It'll be okay Darling. The Doctor and I are about to go through a regeneration."

"What? What's a regeneration?"

"To put it simply, we're about to get brand new faces. When a Time Lord or Lady is close to death, in order for us to cheat it, we must change everything about us." She smiled softly, continuing before Rose could interrupt. "It's not reversible but I promise you this, who we are deep down, never changes. It's like the Libby you knew for most of her time here, it's still me."

It was now time for the regeneration to begin as the golden light became visible once more. Libby backed away and stood next to her Link. The Doctor suddenly bent over, clutching his stomach as if he's been punched, while on the other hand, Libby groaned as she leaned heavily on the console.

"Doctor! Libby!" Rose cried out, stepping forward.

"Stay back!" The Doctor barked urgently.

That got her to freeze midstep, her eyes wide.

"Are you guys going to really be okay?" She asked worriedly.

Despite the pain the two of them were feeling, the kind of pain that could come from every last atoms in their bodies being torn apart before being replaced with new ones, Libby managed to offer a pained smile.

"Don't worry Rosie…"

The Doctor groaned, turning his blue eyes onto the blonde for one last time.

"Before we go, I just wanna tell you, you were fantastic." He wore a proud smile. "Absolutely fantastic. And d'you know what?"

Rose shook her head, worriedly watching as the Doctor looked to the Librarian with a soft look his eyes before facing her once more.

"So was I."

The three of them shared a smile for a few moments. The relative peace was not to last, not when the Time Lords' respective bodies convulsed before orange energy explodes from their exposed skins. This made Rose stagger backwards, shielding her eyes from the incredibly bright light and the heat. She couldn't quite see the changes that were being made.

Not until the light was gone. In place of the Doctor and Libby she had known before, stood two new people.

The Doctor went from big ears, buzz cut and blue eyes to gravity defying hair complete with sideburns, expressive brown eyes, and twig like body. His outfit didn't look like it was the right look for him anymore.

The Librarian no longer had brown hair, she now had wavy blonde hair. She was now almost as tall as the Doctor. Her features sharped a bit, looking a bit more like an aristocrat in her early thirties rather than a soft, almost childlike twenty something. Oddly enough, only thing that didn't really change was her eyes. Well, that's not quite true. While there's still flecks of gold, it mixed with a lovely forest green color. Her own outfit didn't quite fit the new body but it's not as jarring as the Doctor.

"Libby…?" Rose hesitantly called out, turning her gaze towards the woman first. "Doctor?"

Releasing a breath, the Librarian sighed and cracked her neck before turning her gaze onto Rose. "Hello Rosie." She greeted quietly. Her voice had gone a touch raspy, practically commanding respect.

"Hello!" The Doctor was much more excitable as he grinned. "Okay, oo." He gulped, running his tongue over his new teeth. "New teeth. That's weird. So where was I? Oh that's right!"

Libby was suddenly pulled into his arms. "Doctor, what ar-" She was cut off suddenly when his lips crashed with hers.

Needless to say, the first kiss between those that are Linked is indescribable. It lasted for quite some time before the Doctor pulled away with a goofy grin and Libby with a dazed look.

Rose just looked on in confusion and most certainly shock. She didn't know what to think of this whole thing, struggling to process it all. She can only hope to get an explanation, one way or another.

* * *

AN: And done! This chapter so far had the most changes in terms of how things progressed (at least during the time Rose and Libby were left stranded on Earth). I always felt that Mickey was a bit too hard on Rose in this episode, allowing his jealousy blind him. I mean, Rose hadn't exactly been the greatest girlfriend either, running off with a mad man in a blue box. But it was unfair of both her mother and Mickey to expect our blonde friend to suddenly drop this new her and go back to her old life. Life with the Doctor wasn't going to make any sense of normalcy any exciting, rather boring instead.

Finally got to reveal Libby's title and true name! Yes, she goes by the Librarian. Her human nickname actually was chosen to act as a huge hint to her title, along with some other clues. Even her true name, Aridra, was chosen because it fit her too well. Even better, I even got to have the Link snap into place. Don't worry, it's not an instant love, just an instant connection (despite my implication earlier in the chapter), so we'll get to see them develop their relationship with the Link in place.

As I've mentioned before, this chapter is going to be the last one for The Beginnings. Don't worry though, I'm already working on the first chapter for Once Upon A Link, starting with the Christmas special: The Christmas Invasion. Rose won't quite react the same as she did originally to regeneration, not with Libby assuring her throughout our upcoming adventure. Yes, Libby will be responsive during the first chapter as I like to think that Time Ladies have a much better reaction to regeneration than the Lords, especially with a man like the Doctor who pushes things off until the very last second. I just had to throw in a quick explanation of regeneration done by Libby herself. We know the Doctor doesn't tell his companions these kinds of things until after the fact. Had Libby been a Time Lady sooner, she could've explained it better to Rose so when it happens, it wouldn't come to as much of a shock.

See you next time in my second story: Once Upon A Link!

The first chapter is up now! So go check it out after you finish here.


End file.
